Import/Export Democracy

The collapse of socialism in the year 1989 brought hopes for the universal triumph of Western liberal democracy and, along with it, the end of major, global political conflicts.

This democratic optimism played a particular role in Western relations to the former socialist countries. Supported by the democratic changes in East Central Europe, there seemed to be no relevant limits facing the Western export of democracy and instruments for the external promotion of democracy. But after 1989 in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus, two aspects played and still play a key role in determining whether a political system exhibits merely a democratic façade or a truly democratic constitution: civil society and political culture, on the one hand, and the influence of ethnic conflicts, on the other.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation decided to commemorate the anniversary of this epochal turning point by examining two decades of external democracy promotion in these parts of Europe. The publication Import/Export Democracy joins renowned experts from Germany and abroad illuminating the successes and failures, the instruments and institutions, and the concepts behind them.

 

20 Years of Democracy assistance in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus region - Import/Export Democracy
Editor	Heinrich Böll Foundation
Place of publication	Berlin
Date of publication	March 2010
Pages	104
ISBN	978-3-86928-025-7
Service charge	Free of charge