The Role of Democratic Communities in Shaping Democracy and Foreign Policy

• In Event: Emerging Scholars Lightning Round: Graduate Student Research: Understanding Military, Economic, and Status Security in Contemporary and Historical Contexts

Abstract

Academic research has pointed out that the effectiveness of countries' democracy promotion efforts has often been curtailed due to the competing geopolitical, economic, and commercial interests between Western countries. A way to surmount the limitations of bilateral initiatives has been the role of regional organizations in formally supporting democratization as conditions for membership or via sanctions when a member state's democratic quality deteriorates, with more positive results on their efficacy. While substantial research has studied the previous phenomena, scholarly work about international democratic coalitions - which can present a unified global venue for democracy promotion - and their implications on democratization has been scant. This project advances a design that explores the causal mechanisms by which these democratic communities can influence leaders and social coalitions to change their democratic perceptions and actions. I also hypothesize that these international initiatives to advance democracy have broader implications for international politics. Although they declare to advance objectives that may seem 'neutral' and 'technical,' such as the advancement of procedural democracy, they can be conceived as global political agendas. Therefore, this project also aims to study the effects of the Summits on the foreign policy convergence of their participant countries vis-á-vis out-groups. The paper will conclude by discussing the implications of global democratic Summits on global order and democracy.

Author

• Andres Schelp, Northwestern University