January 23, 2023
The Erosion of Democracy Is Contagious
The United States still is the biggest single influence on democracy worldwide, but it has often become less a promoter of democracy than a danger to it
by Paul R. Pillar
Aleading U.S. role in nurturing democracy worldwide can operate in either or both of two ways. One is by reaching out, using any of several foreign policy tools, to shape events in a foreign country in a pro-democratic direction. The American policy context for such efforts has ranged from the human rights agenda of Jimmy Carter to the more militant democracy-spreading objectives of the neoconservatives.
The reaching out can include persuasion of governmental leaders through diplomacy, and the use of economic carrots and sticks such as aid and sanctions to reward moves toward democracy and to punish backsliding toward authoritarianism. The work of two organizations associated with U.S. political parties—the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute—such as the teaching of political skills to potential candidates in free elections, also represents an active U.S. effort to promote democracy abroad.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/erosion-democracy-contagious-206143
