Research Article
Open access
Published on 26 November 2024
Download pdf
Li,K. (2024). The Role of the United States as a Democracy Promoter: Impacts on Developing Countries. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,73,158-163.
Export citation

The Role of the United States as a Democracy Promoter: Impacts on Developing Countries

Kaizhi Li *,1,
  • 1 Guangzhou Foreign Language School

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/73/20241057

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the global landscape of democracy, particularly in developing countries. This has led to a re-evaluation of strategies for promoting democratic processes in different countries and has highlighted the role of the United States in this process. Thus, this paper examines this multi-level aspect by looking at how the U.S. contributes to promoting democratic values, especially in developing states. It also analyzes the pattern of U.S. democracy promotion, arguing that it has gone from the containment strategies as part of the Cold War era to the democratization activities of the post-Cold War period. From this, it can be inferred that democracy promotion is increasingly viewed as an instrument for augmenting national security interests, mostly as a result of 9/11, during which it was regarded as expanding the scope of the war on terror. Furthermore, it assesses the different types of democratic aid granted to the U.S., such as economic assistance, political training, cultural exchanges, and media freedom, whilst looking at their advantages and disadvantages, the infrastructures of developing countries. Through the South African and Iraqi case studies, U.S. initiatives in democracy promotion are thoroughly examined to obtain practical knowledge about their moral and pragmatic aspects. The U.S. should give democracy promotion primary importance by putting international cooperation above everything else, and also respecting national sovereignty, through which the sustainability of its democracy promotion initiatives will be guaranteed.

Keywords

U.S. Democracy Promotion, Political Stability, Economic Assistance, Cold War Containment.

[1]. Gaddis, J.L. (2005) The Cold War: A New History. Penguin Press.

[2]. Rosato, S. (2003) The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory. American Political Science Review, 97(4): 585-602.

[3]. McFaul, M. (2004) Democracy Promotion as a World Value. Washington Quarterly, 28(1): 147-163.

[4]. Carothers, T. (2007) The Backlash Against Democracy Promotion. Foreign Affairs, 85(2): 55-68.

[5]. Youngs, R. (2004) International Democracy and the West: The Role of Governments, Civil Society, and Multinational Business. Oxford University Press.

[6]. Walker, C. and Ludwig, J. (2017) The Meaning of Sharp Power. Foreign Affairs.

[7]. Ikenberry, G.J. (2011) Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order. Princeton University Press.

[8]. Hook, S.W. and Spanier, J. (2018) American Foreign Policy since World War II. CQ Press.

[9]. Huntington, S.P. (1991) The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. University of Oklahoma Press.

[10]. Lipset, S.M. (1959) Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy. American Political Science Review, 53(1): 69-105.

[11]. Rustow, D.A. (1970) Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model. Comparative Politics, 2(3): 337-363.

[12]. Pei, M. (2003) How Will China Democratize? Journal of Democracy, 18(3): 53-57.

[13]. Inglehart, R. and Welzel, C. (2005) Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Cambridge University Press.

[14]. Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. Alfred A. Knopf.

[15]. Rodrik, D. (2011) The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. W.W. Norton & Company.

[16]. Risse, T., Ropp, S.C. and Sikkink, K. (1999) The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change. Cambridge University Press.

[17]. Diamond, L. (2019) Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency. Penguin Press.

[18]. Kagan, R. (2008) The Return of History and the End of Dreams. Alfred A. Knopf.

[19]. Soros, G. (1998) The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered. PublicAffairs.

[20]. Fukuyama, F. (2014) Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[21]. Nye, J.S. (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. Public Affairs.

[22]. Keck, M.E. and Sikkink, K. (1998) Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Cornell University Press.

[23]. Stokes, B. (2013) Americans Oppose U.S. Involvement in Syrian Conflict. Pew Research Center.

Cite this article

Li,K. (2024). The Role of the United States as a Democracy Promoter: Impacts on Developing Countries. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,73,158-163.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities

Conference website: https://2024.icgpsh.org/
ISBN:978-1-83558-715-7(Print) / 978-1-83558-716-4(Online)
Conference date: 20 December 2024
Editor:Enrique Mallen, Ifa Khan
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.73
ISSN:2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).