Michael Hess, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
Whole-of-Government Approach to Democracy Promotion
Interagency coordination, or the "whole-of-government" approach, has been the USG's policy in complex and crisis environments for the past several years. The context in which USAID implements its democracy and governance programs has, in many instances, changed. A panel representing each of the three "Ds" will examine what "whole-of-government" means to each agency and how they understand it in the context of democracy and good governance promotion. Panelists will take stock of lessons learned to date and reflect on what policy-makers and implementers can and need to change to be more effective. Panelists will also discuss the linkages between governance and security in post-conflict and insecure contexts.
Dorothy Douglas Taft, Director of USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance, will conduct a 15 minute question and answer session.
Elisabeth Kvitashvili, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Larry Sampler, Deputy Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (U.S. Department of State) and Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Celeste Ward, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Capabilities (CCO), Department of Defense
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:30 SESSIONS
Session #1: Civil-Military Coordination: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Good Governance Promotion
Regardless of the country context - be it developing, transforming or post-conflict - USAID and its partners increasingly find ourselves planning and conducting programs alongside a relatively new partner, the U.S. military. As a result, actors both inside and outside of the U.S. government have begun to better define the parameters of this relationship. For example, both USAID and the US-based NGO community have drafted policies for civil-military engagement. This session will explore how this partnership can contribute to or detract from the promotion of U.S. democracy and governance objectives.
Moderator: Eric Picard, Democracy and Governance Officer, Civil Society Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Dawn M. Liberi, Executive Civil-Military Development Counselor to the Commander of the US Central Command
Peter M. Manikas,Senior Associate and Regional Director for Asia Programs (NDI)
Session #2: Democracy Programming under Repressive Regimes
The backlash against democracy and democracy promotion has compounded the challenges for supporting the advance of freedom, yet ordinary citizens from Venezuela to Zimbabwe have begun to stand up for their rights, and democracy assistance programs have grown more sophisticated in operating in repressive environments. This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities for advancing democracy in closed societies and the ways that citizen groups and democracy promoters can respond to government repression. The following questions will be addressed: What are the latest methods used by repressive regimes to impede democracy assistance programs? How can democracy assistance programs get around those impediments? Where are the opportunities to engage with local actors to promote change? How can program design and operations be structured to achieve significant impact in repressive environments?
Moderator: Gary Hansen, Division Chief, Civil Society, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Elizabeth Dugan, Vice President, International Republican Institute (IRI)
Douglas Rutzen, President & CEO, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
Session #3:
How USAID Can Contribute to Interagency Initiatives in Policing and Rule of Law Development
For over 25 years, Congress prohibited USAID from funding policing activities. The realization that policing is an integral part of rule of law, democracy and development led Congress to authorize limited support for policing, first in Latin America in 2002 and then worldwide in 2005. This panel will examine USAID's initial efforts to support civilian policing. It will explore how the Agency can increase its impact through a whole of government approach and by partnering with foundations and NGOs. Rick Gold, Chief of the Rule of Law Division, will elaborate on the Democracy and Governance Office's campaign to integrate policing into the culture of the Agency by providing technical support and funding to USAID missions. John Buchanan, USAID's only police advisor, will differentiate democratic and community policing from other forms of policing in developing and transitional countries. He also will assess the status of USAID policing activities he has visited around the world. Sasha Parke, Democracy and Governance Project Management Specialist at USAID/Jamaica, will provide an overview of the Mission's community policing activities and comment on the benefits of partnering with other organizations. Eric Beinhart, Assistant Director for Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean at the Department of Justice International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), will discuss his Office's support for policing activities and its relationship to both USAID and the Department of State's International Narcotics and Legal Assistance Bureau (INL). Melanie Peyser, Director for Democracy and Governance at MPRI, will share her experience working with a police-community relations program in Moscow sponsored by the Vera Institute and the INDEM Foundation.
Objectives:
To raise awareness of the role that USAID policing activities can play in democracy initiatives;
To highlight existing successful democratic policing reform projects;
To identify lessons learned in interagency cooperation on;
To build understanding of resources available for developing democratic policing activities.
Moderator: Rick Gold, Division Chief, Rule of Law Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID) View Presentation (PDF, 181KB)
Panelists:
Eric Beinhart, Assistant Director, ICITAP (U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division) View Presentation (PDF, 1.15MB)
John Buchanan, Senior Police Advisor, Rule of Law Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Session #4:
Elections and Violence: Strategies for Effective Engagement
The role that elections can play in providing a framework for conflict mitigation has gained increasing acceptance as a means of stemming conflict in fragile states. In many post-conflict and conflicted environments, a well-planned and executed electoral cycle has served as a means of bringing previously warring groups into the political process and mitigating coordinated campaigns of violence. Election-related violence during an election cycle remains an issue of concern in many contexts and over the past several years, USAID has supported programming in a number of countries to examine and address violence during the election process as a unique form of conflict, and explore the roles that an array of stakeholders play or can play in mitigating election violence, including civil society, political parties, election management bodies, and police and military authorities. Panelists will discuss effective strategies for conducting elections in post-conflict environments, drawing upon relevant case studies and offering insights into the ability of elections to mitigate violence. Recent monitoring of election violence in East Timor, Iraq, and Nepal will also be highlighted.
Moderator:Barbara Smith,Democracy Specialist with the Elections and Political Processes Division in the Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Carina Perelli, Vice-President of Development and Outreach (IFES)
Session #5:
Designing Effective Anticorruption Programs for Post-Conflict Rebuilding Settings
In the aftermath of conflict, the fragility of a country's governing structures, institutions and procedures can make it especially prone to corruption, which in turn can weaken its governance and economic potential and, in the worst of circumstances, cause an unwanted relapse into conflict. Greed, spoiler factions, and the absence of necessary controls can produce conditions in which early rebuilding after conflict can fall victim to high levels of corruption. Donor programs that promote effective anticorruption practices and institutions can play a major role in stabilizing a country after the trauma of internal conflict and state breakdowns by facilitating the trajectory toward positive economic and social development. But the corruption vulnerabilities faced by post-conflict societies are different from typical developing countries: crime and physical security is more prominent, spoiler factions have more to gain, civil society is less organized, military leaders may still have excessive clout, and the recent shock of conflict may cause particularly vulnerable groups to refrain from participating.
Sometimes the seeds for new anticorruption initiatives are embedded in the negotiated peace agreements, but it often falls upon donor organizations to find the appropriate measures -- under challenging conditions -- to implement these provisions effectively. Recent analyses of these transitional settings are seeking to uncover the major risks and challenges, the right questions to ask, and best practices for anticorruption programs in post-conflict societies. The session will further the public discussion on how to arrest corruptive tendencies from overtaking a new and fragile peace in countries emerging from conflict.
Moderator:Elizabeth Hart, Senior Anti-Corruption Advisor for the DG Office Governance Division
The Effects of US Foreign Assistance on Democracy-Building: Presenting Results of Two Quantitative Cross-National Studies
A prestigious U.S. academic team examined democratic patterns in 165 countries throughout the world from 1990 to 2004, finding that USAID DG assistance had a significant positive impact on democratic development. Specifically, the studies conclude that, in any given year, $10 million of USAID DG funding produces about a five-fold increase in the amount of democratic change over what the average country would otherwise be expected to achieve. The studies also explore conditions under which democracy and governance programs have the greatest impact and identify the specific effects of investment within the DG portfolio.
Composed of distinguished professors from Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh, the research team used sophisticated statistical models to draw their conclusions and controlled for many other possible influences on the growth of democracy, leading to sound and impartial scientific conclusions. Professors Steven Finkel and Aníbal Pérez-Liñén of the University of Pittsburgh, and Professors Mitchell Seligson and C. Neal Tate of Vanderbilt University built this latest research on their 2005 quantitative study, which had also concluded that USAID democracy and governance programs have had a measurable impact on democratic progress around the world.
Moderator: David Black,Regional Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Session #1: Enhancing Democracy and Governance Participation in Civil Military Programming
The trend toward USG unity of effort in respect to stabilization and reconstruction operations is not going to dissipate soon given the global levels of instability, unrest and active conflict. With development now recognized as a cornerstone of national security along with diplomacy and defense, USAID is an active participant in whole-of-government activities designed to result in a more consistently coordinated and integrated response toward USG policy objectives. This panel will present insight into the relationship between DG objectives and civil-military cooperation, and how USAID DG programming can leverage and support a wide range of USG activities. Panelists will draw from practical program implementation experiences to address best practices in civil-military coordination and lessons learned for achieving DG objectives.
Moderator: L. Alex Berg, Advisor, Democracy and Governance Office's Rule of Law Division
Session #2: Good Enough Governance for Fragile States?: Lessons from Iraq, Qualifiers from Afghanistan and Pakistan
Reforming governance is an ambitious undertaking for any country, much less for fragile states with weak institutions, feeble economies, impoverished citizens, and serious societal divisions or conflict. Faced with a long menu of governance reforms, many developing countries have had difficulty ingesting the full "meal," leading country officials, donors, think tanks, and academics alike to question the advisability of prescribing comprehensive governance improvement. Answering the question of what is good enough governance in fragile states has both conceptual and operational dimensions, which are interrelated. The conceptual side addresses defining good enough governance and what needs to be done to get it, including which governance capacities are the highest priority, and what is the appropriate sequence of interventions to develop them. The operational side concerns how to carry out these efforts. This panel explores this question with a particular focus upon the Iraq cases of local governance and national capacity building, and place that experience in comparative context with commentary drawing upon Afghanistan and Pakistan. Panelist offer insights, guidance, and cautions for democratic governance promoters.
Moderator: Pat Fn'Piere, Acting Chief of the Governance Division (USAID)
Philip-Michael Gary, Senior Director, International Development Group, RTI International
M. Chris Mason, Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Defense Studies
Session #3: Democracy from the Bottom Up
In the eyes of many citizens, the frustrations of democracy are not so much related to process as to the performance of those that are elected democratically. Political promises made in the context of a campaign are not translated into results. Programmatically, what are innovative responses? What actually works? At what level of governance? This "hands-on" panel proposes therefore to address the challenges and issues that elected officials and their communities face in insuring tangible results from a democratic political process. The discussion will focus on local governance and will in part be anchored by IRI programming in this area and that of some of its partners.
Themes for Discussion:
Equity and Inclusiveness
Citizen Participation
Transparency and Accountability
Responsiveness
Moderator: Michael Eddy, USAID/Macedonia
Panelists:
Maureen Harrington, Vice President for Policy and International Relations, at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Jon Bormet, Senior Governance Advisor, ICMA International View Presentation (PDF, 644KB)
Session #4: New Media: The Next Frontier for Free Expression and Civic Organizing
In countries where traditional broadcast and print media are restricted, innovative uses of the Internet and cell phones provide alternative spaces for free expression and communication. New media have increasingly become means for significant segments of society around the world, particularly youth, to share information and interact socially. From video blogs to SMS's to social networking sites, new media offer promising potential to make independent voices heard and to organize citizens into action.
The emergence of new media has also affected traditional media by presenting alternative information and viewpoints, and increasing competition for readers and viewers. Some traditional media, in response, have begun to adopt new technologies and thereby to influence the exchange of information on the internet.
There is a cat and mouse game played between governments and civil society organizations using new media to advance their causes using new media. Who is winning this game? What trends for circumventing Internet censorship are on the horizon?
This session will feature oral and visual presentations, with explanations by the panelists on the use of new media in different countries and regions. The presentations will be followed by a broad discussion which will explore the impact of new media on freedom of expression, civic participation and traditional media, and will examine strategies for use of new media in DG programs.
Moderator:Troy Etulain, Senior Advisor for Independent Media Development, Civil Society Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Jeanne Bourgault, Senior Vice-President for Programs, Internews Network
Mark Whitehouse, Director of Media Development Programs, IREX
Ken Berman, Director of Information Technology, Broadcasting Board of Governors
Session #5: The Democracy Advantage: Examining Why and How Democracy Supports Broad-based Economic Growth
The session will begin with an overview of the seminal work, "The Democracy Advantage," by co-author Joseph Siegle. Dr. Siegle will review the superior economic growth and development track record posted by low-income democracies relative to autocracies, on average, over the past 45 years, noting that democracies also do a better job at avoiding calamity - financial, humanitarian, and conflict - than do autocracies. While the pattern of relative democratic progress is robust it is not universal - some democracies have struggled economically while a handful of autocracies have realized rapid economic advancement. Dr. Siegle will examine some of the reasons for these differences, focusing on the importance of institutions of accountability (e.g. checks on the chief executive, a meritocratic civil service, an independent private sector, the rule of law, and a free press) - institutions that find more fertile ground in open, democratic societies. A case for how US foreign assistance can help build such institutions in poor countries will be taken up by panelists Ron Blackwell and John Sullivan; the former by examining why accounting for the various power relationships within political systems (including workers and their unions) is important to building governance institutions that do not inherently breed instability and corruption; the latter by investigating the symbiosis between political and economic reforms and between business and democracy, focusing especially on the specific role that private sector civil society organizations can play.
Moderator: Kimberly Ludwig, Senior Civil Society and Labor Advisor, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
The Impact of Demography on the Prospects for Democracy and Social Change
The world is heading toward an unprecedented demographic phase defined by the contrast between wealthy democracies with abnormally aged populations and highly immature societies with abnormally youthful populations. The impact of this contrast on global democratic change is likely to be profound, and often negative.
Moderator: Cate Johnson, Deputy Director, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Session #1: Radical Extremism and Development Responses
This panel, sponsored by USAID/Bureau for Africa, will provide an opportunity for leading scholars and practitioners to share new research regarding the most salient drivers of violent extremism with a focus on the Islamic world. The panel considers factors that drive attitudes and behaviors, profiles that help to identify the universe of those most susceptible to perpetrating violent extremism, and identifies possible responses on the part of international development to counter identified drivers and trends. The distinct role of USAID appears to be in areas that are often directly related to the technical and or management focus of DG officers (and more broadly, Back Stop 76).
Dr. Lynn Carter will summarize the findings of an analysis funded by the AFR Bureau to examine evidence of factors leading to popular support for and recruitment to violent religious extremist groups and actions in Africa. Focused on Africa, the study has considerable application for CT efforts in other areas of the developing world. She will distill from this review the principal drivers and signal which drivers can most fruitfully be addressed via development assistance.
Dr. Craig Charney will present data on the origins of extremism and discontent with governance in Muslim Asia and the role each plays in promoting support for violent extremism. This data comes from large-scale cross-national survey research in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. After presenting these findings he will outline the need for a cross-sectoral approach (public and private) to respond to the root causes of each problem.
Dr. Zeric Smith will present a paper based on recently completed field work in Mauritania were a team carried out a pilot study to test the relevance of the emerging CT and Development Framework being developed by USAID/AFR working with MSI. The paper 1) updates the analytical basis on which activities funded under the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) were originally based; 2) examines the validity of the USAID/AFR CT and Development hypotheses about drivers of terrorism in contemporary Mauritania, and; 3) tests the relevance of the proposed results frameworks for assisting USAID/West Africa and the guiding the activities and monitoring and evaluation of a newly awarded contract in three TSCTP countries. By using Mauritania as a pilot, the team has been able to test the capacity of identified drivers in a real-world setting and presents how analysis will sharpen the focus and improve monitoring of soon to begin TSCTP activities.
Moderator: Dr. Zeric Smith, Senior Conflict Analyst, Africa Bureau, Office of Sustainable Development (USAID)
Session #2: Using Independent Data for Evaluations and Assessments
The purpose of this panel is to inform USAID DG Officers and our partners about independent sources of data such as the Afrobarometer, AmericasBarometer and the African Legislatures Project. Given the recent recommendations from the National Academies on improving democracy assistance through better evaluations, it will be timely and helpful to learn about external data sources and how they can (and cannot) be used by USAID and its partners. In addition to facilitating better program evaluations, data such as these can be extremely useful in helping to assess the environment in which we work. Questions to be addressed include the following:
Under the best of circumstances, how can external data be used in an impact evaluation of a new DG program along the lines recommended by the National Academies?
What is needed from USAID and/or partners for this to work?
When will it not work? What are the pitfalls?
How accurate and sensitive are these data sets in capturing the changes that a USAID DG program might produce?
How can these data sets be used as an assessment tool to feed into the development of a DG strategy?
How else can independent data be useful to USAID and its partners?
Moderator: Mark Billera, Regional Coordinator for Africa, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Joel Barkan, Senior Associate, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa
Session #3: Defense and Security in Latin America: The Merida Security Initiative
The central question of this conference "How can we do our work more effectively within the intersection of government and security?" comes to the fore under the Merida Initiative. Over the past decade, drug trafficking and other criminal organizations have grown in size and strength, aggressively intimidating government institutions in Mexico and Central America, and threatening those governments' ability to maintain public security and expand the rule of law. The Administration has requested $1.1 billion from Congress for the Merida Initiative to address these problems. The Initiative demonstrates the United States' commitment to partner with governments in Mexico and Central America in a multi-year proposal to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement operations and technical assistance for long-term reform and oversight of security agencies. Recently, Haiti and Dominican Republic have been added to the list of countries slated to receive assistance.USAID has participated in the development of the Initiative and expects to undertake some of the rule of law activities, in cooperation with other agencies. This session will provide an insight into the Initiative, offer perspectives on the new opportunities and the challenges that the Initiative presents for deepening democracy and good governance in the region, and highlight some implications for USAID democracy and governance assistance.
Objectives:
Provide an insight into the Initiative;
Offer perspectives on the opportunities and the challenges that the Initiative presents for deepening democracy and good governance in the region;
Highlight some implications for USAID democracy and governance assistance.
Moderator:April Hahn,Strategies Division, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Why engage youth? What are the ways in which youth participation can be enhanced to achieve democracy and governance sector goals? What do we need to know in order to engage in youth programming? The interactive session will survey participants' views about these important issues and feature brief presentations from a panel of representatives of developing country youth-led programs. There will be ample time for participants to share their experiences and to query what worked, how the results were measured and what were the challenges to youth programming.
Moderator: Christine Adamczyk, Civil Society Division, Office of Democracy and Governance Office (USAID)
Panelists:
Ron Israel, Vice President, Education Development Center
Bonney Mattingly, Project Director, Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution (MAR/AFSC)
Ashok Regmi, Director, International Youth Foundation
Paul Sully, Senior Youth Advisor, Global Learning Group, Education Development Center
Felix Unogwu, Children and Youth Specialist, Search for Common Ground
Session #5: Deepening Democracy: Civil Society and Local Governance
This panel will feature a presentation by Dr. Patrick Heller of Brown University and comments on Dr. Heller's presentation and logically related issues from Drs. Gina Lambright of George Washington University and Vijayendra Rao of the World Bank. The panel will explore alternative meanings of and approaches to democracy and democratization in developing and transitional countries. The panel will explore aspects of "civil society" and "local governance" and their potential contributions to various forms of democracy (representative/participative/associational). The panel will address issues similar to the following: Under what circumstances might the transfer of the formal institutions of democracy reliably result in democratization? What additional efforts are needed to "deepen" democracy in highly unequal polities, economies and societies? What objectives might promoters of democratization realistically seek in these often difficult contexts?
Moderator: Ed Connerley, Senior Advisor for Decentralization and Local Governance, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
The near absence of armed conflict between democracies ("the democratic peace") as well as democracies' lower propensity to instigate conflict, experience civil wars, or knowingly harbor international terrorists have increasingly made democracy an essential element of U.S. and international security. Nevertheless, the strategic goal of democracy promotion has often been undermined by short term tactical security, economic, or political interests. This session will suggest political and bureaucratic strategies to get a broad array of U.S. government organizations to embrace democratization as a long-term process of socio-political change and institutional reform. Analysis of past experiences will illuminate both the magnitude of the democracy promotion challenge as well as the viability of reforming U.S. institutional support for democratic governance. Senior experts will propose Three D's perspectives on how to maintain a democracy-centered foreign policy within various organizations. The session will stimulate thinking and dialogue on how each one of us can work to overcome the internal political and bureaucratic obstacles to democratization.
Moderator:Michael Henning, Division Chief, Elections & Political Processes Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Ambassador Gene Dewey, former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)
Col. Michael Meese, Ph.D., Professor and Head of the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Session #2: Improving Evaluation of Democracy Promotion Projects
Over the past 25 years, the United States has made support for the spread of democracy to other nations an increasingly important element of its national security policy. Within the U.S. government, USAID has principal responsibility for providing democracy assistance. Despite expenditures estimated at $8.47 billion between 1990 and 2005 in approximately 120 countries, our understanding of the actual impacts of USAID DG assistance remains limited.
Two quantitative studies have shown that, on average, higher levels of democratic assistance are associated with movement to higher levels of democracy, providing the clearest empirical evidence to date that democracy assistance contributes toward its desired goals. Yet, it is also true that large volumes of democracy assistance do not always yield positive results. To better understand why DG assistance has been more successful in some contexts than in others, USAID turned to an expert committee of the National Research Council to gain greater insight into which democracy assistance projects are having the greatest impacts.
This session will include a summary of the key recommendations from the expert committee to USAID. One recommendation is for USAID to pilot the use of impact evaluation designs, including randomized studies, to ascertain how useful they could be for determining the effects of DG projects. Therefore the session will also include a presentation from the International Rescue Committee describing a large effort at using impact evaluations already underway.
Moderator: David Black,Regional Coordinator for Europe & EurasiaStrategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Session #3: The Global Food Crisis and Food Insecurity: A Governance Challenge
Soaring prices of staple foods have sparked riots in countries around the world. Long term food price increases, as predicted by the FAO, could reverse some development gains and plunge some groups, such as the urban poor, into worsened poverty. The profound economic and social dislocation that results could generate political instability in many countries where we work.
What challenges does the food crisis present for governments in affected countries? What can democracy programming do to contribute to lasting food security? This session will highlight the causes of the current food crisis, consider its political implications, and underscore the role of improved governance in achieving lasting food security. While humanitarian assistance is critical in the short term, any long term solution to the persistence problem of hunger and food insecurity will require improved governance by host governments to develop and implement coherent food security policies.
Moderator: Cate Johnson, Deputy Director, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Marc Cohen,International Food Policy Research Institute
Cheryl Morden, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Caroline Sahley, Democracy Officer, Elections and Political Processes Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID) View Presentation (PDF, 486KB)
Session #4: Middle Eastern Political Opposition Movements - A Closer Look
One of the most significant factors preventing democratic progress in the Middle East is the lack of meaningful political competition. In this context, most of the focus of U.S. policy and foreign assistance has been on the role played by governments in either limiting or facilitating political competition. However, more attention needs to be paid to the capacity of existing opposition movements to play a constructive role in future democratic reform. The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is completing a year-long study of the state of opposition movements in four Middle Eastern countries. This session will feature a presentation of the findings by USIP as well as a discussion of the implications of the USIP report from the perspective of U.S. diplomacy and development assistance in the Middle East.
Moderator: Joshua Kaufman, Acting Chief, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Daniel Brumberg, Special Adviser for the USIP's Muslim World Initiative
Owen Kirby, Senior Advisor, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), U.S. Department of State
Session #5: Political Will or Political Leadership? Engaging the Person Behind the Decision
Many of USAID's statements on development policy priorities, strategies, and programmatic issues, refer to generating, securing, sustaining, and improving "political will" Conceptualized thus, political will remains a depersonalized and vague force driving, sustaining, transforming – or impeding – the democratization of government, and the quality of development. In this session, the presenters will assign a human face to "political will", by considering the critical need for democratic, ethical and effective leadership on a country's path to democratic good governance, and how to foster effective leadership. The panel will explore the nature of ethical leadership, whether ethical and democratic leaders can emerge from corrupt political systems, and what measures might best help USAID to identify and support good leadership. The panel will explore the extent to which democracy support/promotion is an integral part of U.S. foreign policy and the policies of other democratic governments and how diplomats abroad can most effectively advance democratization, and will also share project examples where ethical and democratic leadership have been the focus.
Moderator: Neil Levine, Director of the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Panelist:
Joanne Ciulla, Ph.D., Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond
Panelists will present two different views on the extent
to which we are witnessing a wave of democratic "backsliding" around the
world. Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director of Freedom House, will draw
on data from Freedom House's most recent Freedom in the World survey.
According to the survey's findings, the year 2007 was marked by a
notable setback for global freedom. Furthermore, results for 2007 marked
the second consecutive year in which the survey registered a decline in
freedom, representing the first two-year setback in the past 15 years.
Dr. Steven Levitsky (Harvard University) will discuss how the
backsliding view is partly rooted in a flawed transition paradigm and
outline a definition of "competitive authoritarian" regimes. Examples of
such regimes will be explored and it will be shown that most of these
regimes were never democratizing, and elites in most of these countries
were not trying to build or "consolidate" democracy. In most cases, they
were trying to maintain themselves in power. From this perspective,
events such as repression, stolen elections, or constitutional reforms
to extend presidential terms are not so much backsliding as the basic
politics of competitive authoritarianism.
Susan Johnson, Senior Coordinator for Democracy in the State Department's
Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (S/DRL), will discuss the
two presentations, with a focus on how the USG does, could and should
address the democracy challenges raised by the panelists.
Dorothy Douglas Taft, Director of USAID's Office of Democracy and
Governance (DCHA/DG), will moderate a 30 minute question and answer
session and will provide concluding remarks for the conference.
Moderator/Closing Remarks: Dorothy Douglas Taft, Director of the Office of Democracy and
Governance (USAID)
Panelists:
Susan Johnson, Senior Coordinator for Democracy Promotion, State Department, Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Sessions for Thursday June 12, 2008
Provide Feedback
Deepening Our Understanding of the Effects of US Foreign Assistance on Democracy Building-Final Report
