The International Politics of Democratization

Teixeira, Nuno Severiano

doi:10.4324/9780203938775

Cited by 25 publications

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“…The attempts by democracy promoters to “spread the word” on the virtues of democracy have not gone unnoticed in academia: many books and articles have been written in recent decades analysing the successes and failures of democratic transitions around the globe. Traditionally many studies have focused on analysis of key causal variables facilitating democratization (see for example, O’Donnell and Schmitter 1986; Przeworski and Limongi 1997; Diamond 2008) but increasing effort has also been expended on analysis of the role of and the motivations informing democracy promotion policies (see for example, Smith 1994; Burnell 2000; Youngs 2001; Teixeira 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally many studies have focused on analysis of key causal variables facilitating democratization (see for example, O'Donnell and Schmitter 1986;Przeworski and Limongi 1997;Diamond 2008) but increasing effort has also been expended on analysis of the role of and the motivations informing democracy promotion policies (see for example , Smith 1994;Burnell 2000;Youngs 2001;Teixeira 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Democracy and Conceptual Contestability: Reconsidering Conceptions of Democracy in Democracy Promotion

Kurki¹

2010

International Studies Review

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Democracy is a deeply contested concept: historically, complex debates have revolved around the meaning of democracy and the plausibility of different ‘models of democracy.’ However, democracy’s conceptual contestability has received diminished attention in the post‐Cold War democracy promotion debate as the attention of democracy promotion actors and scholars has turned to fine‐tuning of policies through which a liberal democratic model can be successfully encouraged. It is argued here that the focus on the extension of the reach of the liberal democratic mode of governance has resulted in a conceptually impoverished appreciation of the multiple meanings that the idea of democracy can take. It is argued that the ‘essential contestability’ of the idea of democracy is not adequately recognized and tackled, which in turn has important effects for the ability of democracy promotion scholars, as well as practitioners, to take into account the consequences that considering alternative (non‐ or extra‐liberal) models of democracy might have for democracy promotion. To move the debate forward, I explore here, primarily in conceptual and theoretical terms, what serious engagement with the essential contestability of democracy might mean for democracy promotion. I argue that it entails a two‐fold move: ‘pluralization’ and ‘contextualization’ of the conceptions of democracy. The latter part of the article examines in detail the reasons that might exist for considering such a move in framing the study and the practice of democracy promotion, as well as the potential dangers that might be involved.

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confidence: 99%