R: Promote Democracy Abroad

Americans, by and large, are enthusiastic about democracy. Though that enthusiasm may be faltering slightly, the general view on the right is that the United States should be the political, economic, and perhaps even cultural leaders of the world. We are the city on the hill, Thucydides’ Athens, the pedagogical city. While discussions of the economic and cultural influences the United States has on the world are best saved for another debate, now more than ever, the question of the utility of the United States spreading its political framework abroad is coming to a head. Does it work to promote democracy abroad and if so, should we? When examining historical examples, one certainly cannot say that democracy promotion is easy. In instances where the U.S. has had direct involvement in democracy promotion, it has largely failed. Even outcomes of American-inspired calls for democracy like the Arab spring were unsteady at best and utter failures at worst. 

As a Time magazine article published in December 2020 put it, often the societal pressures that start revolutions are very different than the ones that drive democratic transition. “The former are driven by the persistent socio-economic and political dysfunctions…; democratic transitions, meanwhile, require particular enabling conditions. These include a national pro-democracy movement that can not only organize mass protests but also win elections; a set of state institutions, at least some of which (the army in most cases) would enable such a transition; and a regional environment that is supportive, or at least accommodating.” For a system of government that is supposed to be the panacea for all instability, democracy seems to have difficulty spreading successfully. Why?

Is it simply our failure as a nation to promote democracy effectively? Or is there something inherent about democracy promotion that yields negative results? If the former is true, it seems the answer is to rethink the way we promote democracy and return to the fight with more vigor than ever. If the latter is true, then perhaps it is time for the United States to stop its futile mission, even if democracy promotion seems like the right thing to do. The final question that remains is: Even if democracy can successfully be promoted, should we do so? Are we comfortable enough with democracy’s (or more specifically American democracy’s) supremacy to promote it abroad? Is it not also logical to assume that the countries where democracy is not present now might never be home to democracy? Finally with the democratic backsliding that exists in parts of Eastern Europe, is now perhaps the time we need to promote democracy the most?