Does Democracy Matter?

Does democracy matter? Is democracy on the defensive globally? If so, what can or should be done to support democracy throughout the world? The present book arose from a conference dedicated to the following three related questions: Should fostering democracy be a major goal of U.S. foreign policy? If so, how can its effectiveness be improved? If not, what are the alternatives? Through an exploration of “soft power,” the authors of this book examine available knowledge and necessary new research agendas that will help us better understand both democratization efforts and authoritarian pushback in today’s difficult context.

East Central Europe and the Future of Democracy: A Case for a Transatlantic Democratic Reset

"As several authors in this volume make clear, in today's global environment effective democracy support needs to have two dimensions: external and internal. The United States, Western Europe, and other established democracies - including the East Central European states - need to tackle two interrelated challenges: provide global leadership in supporting democracy in the face of the current authoritarian resurgence, and improve the quality of democracy at home by way of overcoming disillusionment, undue influence of money in politics, and other systemic problems. As Larry Diamond and others suggest - "physician, heal thyself"- improving democracy's functioning at home is an indispensable aspect of making it attractive abroad. This chapter supplements the general argument of the book by engaging critically in a discussion about the state of democracy in East Central Europe in the context of debates on democracy transformation in general."

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