Sponsoring Democracy: The United States and Democracy Aid to the Developing World, 1988–2001

As democratization has advanced in the developing world, developed countries such as the United States have implemented explicit strategies of democracy promotion by providing assistance to governments, political parties, and other non-governmental groups and organizations through a variety of channels. This analysis examines the relationship between democracy support by the US Agency for International Development and democratization in the developing world between 1988 and 2001. In a model that examines the simultaneous processes linking democratization and democracy aid, we argue that carefully targeted democracy assistance has greater impact on democratization than more generic economic aid packages. We test the relationship in a simultaneous equation model, supplemented by several time-series cross-sectional regressions. Our data reveal a positive relationship between specific democracy aid packages and progress toward democracy. We conclude by weighing the implications of these findings for democratization and democracy promotion policies.

伴随发展中地区民主化进程的持续深化，以美国为代表的发达国家已制定明确的民主促进战略，通过多元渠道向相关国家政府、政党及其他非政府团体与组织提供援助支持。本分析聚焦1988年至2001年间，美国国际开发署（US Agency for International Development）提供的民主援助与发展中地区民主化进程之间的关联。在针对民主化进程与民主援助之间双向互动关系构建的模型中，我们提出：相较于更为泛化的经济援助方案，精准定向的民主援助对民主化进程的推动效果更为显著。我们采用联立方程模型，并辅以多组时间序列截面回归分析，对上述关联进行实证检验。本研究的实证数据表明，针对性的民主援助方案与民主化进程进展之间存在正向关联。最后，我们深入探讨了本研究发现对民主化进程与民主促进政策的启示意义。