Julia Leininger
Biographic Data
| ID | 4075115 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Julia Leininger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Julia |
| FAMILY NAME | Leininger |
| SIGNATURE | LEININGER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | German Institute of Development and Sustainability |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2609-8929 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 181 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
International democracy promotion across two waves
Ethics and Equity
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion is crucial to increasing societies’ resilience to shocks and to enabling sustainable futures. Amidst growing tensions and polarization in all world regions, social cohesion ranks high on the agendas of researchers, decision-makers and international organizations. Despite the strong interest in the topic, there are major constraints to understanding its patterns, causes and effects: the lack of a common conceptualization and measur…
Strategic responses to autocratization in international democracy promotion
What works in democracy support? How to fill evidence and usability gaps through evaluation
The evidence generated and used in development cooperation has changed remarkably over the last decades. When it comes to the field of democracy support, these developments have been less significant. Routinised, evidence-based programming is far from a reality here. Compared to other fields, the goals of the interventions and assumed theories of change remain underspecified. Under these circumstances, evaluating and learning is difficult, and as…
Integrated policymaking
Increased policy coherence and integrated implementation are necessary to address pressing development problems that cut across different sectors. Meeting these demands, as called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requires institutional innovation. Based on the comparative analysis of 137 countries, this paper investigates how governments have responded to this call and which contextual factors shape their institutional response…
Defining a sustainable development target space for 2030 and 2050
With the establishment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), countries worldwide agreed to a prosperous, socially inclusive, and environmentally sustainable future for all. This ambition, however, exposes a critical gap in science-based insights, namely on how to achieve the 17 SDGs simultaneously. Quantitative goal-seeking scenario studies could help explore the needed systems' transformations. This requires a clear definition of the "tar…
Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion
While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the S…
Protection against autocratisation
This article analyses the conditions under which international democracy support contributes to protecting presidential term limits. As autocratisation has become an unwelcome global trend, researchers turned to the study of the toolboxes of would-be autocrats, including their attempts to circumvent term limits. Through a paired comparison of failed attempts in Malawi (2002) and Senegal (2012), we find that external democracy support can assist d…
Protecting democracy from abroad
The article addresses the question of whether international democracy aid helps to protect presidential term limits – a commonly accepted but increasingly challenged safeguard for democracy. According to our analysis, democracy aid is effective in countering attempts to circumvent term limits, thus, it contributed towards protecting democratic standards in African and Latin American countries between 1990 and 2014. Democracy aid helps to fend off…
A sustainable development pathway for climate action within the UN 2030 Agenda
Gradual, Cooperative, Coordinated
This article analyzes the success factors for external engagement aimed at fostering peace in conflict-affected states. It focuses on a set of three factors that have been under-researched so far: the strategic prioritization between stability and democracy, the degree of coordination, and the mode of interaction. We compare international engagement in six countries—Burundi, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Senegal, and Timor-Leste. These countries all …
Beyond contestation
This article presents an analytical framework that guides the contributions to this special issue and, in general terms, aims at enabling a systematic investigation of processes of negotiation in the international promotion of democracy. It first briefly introduces the rationale for studying democracy promotion negotiation, offers a definition, and locates the general approach within the academic literature, bringing together different strands of…
Introduction
This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assu…
Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion
Foreword 1. Not all good things go together: conflicting objectives in democracy promotion 2. Democracy promotion, empowerment, and self-determination: conflicting objectives in US and German policies towards Bolivia 3. Financing poverty alleviation vs. promoting democracy? Multi-Donor Budget Support in Zambia 4. Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo: managing competing objectives of institution-building and local empowerment 5. Power-sha…
Governing the Interlinkages between the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2015 form a universal and integrated policy agenda to be realized over the next 15 years. One of the targets is the attainment of policy coherence for sustainable development, which requires the individual goals to become interlinked. This article's main research interest lies in assessing how national governments and their competent ministries interpret and strive to implement the target of policy cohe…
It's Institutions, Not Theology! Muslim Actors’ Influence on Democratization in Mali
This article aims at explaining religious actors' influence on democratic transition in Mali (1987–1992). It argues that it takes more than political theology to effectively influence democratization processes. Although Muslim actors used their political theology during democratization, they had neither the organizational means nor the legitimization to convince others of their preferences for a post-authoritarian institutional set-up. They had v…
Religiöse Akteure in Demokratisierungsprozessen
Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion
Not all good things go together
Conflicting objectives are often problematized as challenges to the effectiveness of international democracy promotion. However, systematic research about their emergence and effects is still missing. This special issue addresses this research gap and seeks to provide conceptual and empirical answers in the field of conflicting objectives in international democracy promotion. The authors represented in this special issue investigate (post-) confl…
Bringing the outside in
This article is about the conceptualization of democracy promotion in political science. It argues that democracy promoters in aid-dependent states do not influence the change and stability of political regimes mostly 'from without', as typically assumed in academia. Instead, it mainly takes place 'within' the supported political system. Empirical findings from democracy assistance in Haiti and Mali challenge the typical conceptualization and she…
The multi-faceted role of religious actors in democratization processes
The article comparatively investigates the role of religious actors in the democratization processes of five 'young' democracies from the Catholic, Protestant, Christian-Orthodox and Muslim world: West Germany after World War II (1945–1969), Georgia and Ukraine post-1987/9, Mali (post-1987), and Indonesia from 1998. The analysis provides an overview of the roles religious actors played in the erosion of authoritarian rule, the transition to democ…
Not all good things go together
Conflicting objectives are often problematized as challenges to the effectiveness of international democracy promotion. However, systematic research about their emergence and effects is still missing. This special issue addresses this research gap and seeks to provide conceptual and empirical answers in the field of conflicting objectives in international democracy promotion. The authors represented in this special issue investigate (post-) confl…
The multi-faceted role of religious actors in democratization processes
The article comparatively investigates the role of religious actors in the democratization processes of five 'young' democracies from the Catholic, Protestant, Christian-Orthodox and Muslim world: West Germany after World War II (1945–1969), Georgia and Ukraine post-1987/9, Mali (post-1987), and Indonesia from 1998. The analysis provides an overview of the roles religious actors played in the erosion of authoritarian rule, the transition to democ…
Bringing the outside in
This article is about the conceptualization of democracy promotion in political science. It argues that democracy promoters in aid-dependent states do not influence the change and stability of political regimes mostly 'from without', as typically assumed in academia. Instead, it mainly takes place 'within' the supported political system. Empirical findings from democracy assistance in Haiti and Mali challenge the typical conceptualization and she…
Beyond contestation
This article presents an analytical framework that guides the contributions to this special issue and, in general terms, aims at enabling a systematic investigation of processes of negotiation in the international promotion of democracy. It first briefly introduces the rationale for studying democracy promotion negotiation, offers a definition, and locates the general approach within the academic literature, bringing together different strands of…
Integrated policymaking
Increased policy coherence and integrated implementation are necessary to address pressing development problems that cut across different sectors. Meeting these demands, as called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requires institutional innovation. Based on the comparative analysis of 137 countries, this paper investigates how governments have responded to this call and which contextual factors shape their institutional response…
Protecting democracy from abroad
The article addresses the question of whether international democracy aid helps to protect presidential term limits – a commonly accepted but increasingly challenged safeguard for democracy. According to our analysis, democracy aid is effective in countering attempts to circumvent term limits, thus, it contributed towards protecting democratic standards in African and Latin American countries between 1990 and 2014. Democracy aid helps to fend off…
Gradual, Cooperative, Coordinated
This article analyzes the success factors for external engagement aimed at fostering peace in conflict-affected states. It focuses on a set of three factors that have been under-researched so far: the strategic prioritization between stability and democracy, the degree of coordination, and the mode of interaction. We compare international engagement in six countries—Burundi, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Senegal, and Timor-Leste. These countries all …
Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion
While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the S…
Introduction
This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assu…
Protection against autocratisation
This article analyses the conditions under which international democracy support contributes to protecting presidential term limits. As autocratisation has become an unwelcome global trend, researchers turned to the study of the toolboxes of would-be autocrats, including their attempts to circumvent term limits. Through a paired comparison of failed attempts in Malawi (2002) and Senegal (2012), we find that external democracy support can assist d…
Strategic responses to autocratization in international democracy promotion
The multi-faceted role of religious actors in democratization processes
The article comparatively investigates the role of religious actors in the democratization processes of five 'young' democracies from the Catholic, Protestant, Christian-Orthodox and Muslim world: West Germany after World War II (1945–1969), Georgia and Ukraine post-1987/9, Mali (post-1987), and Indonesia from 1998. The analysis provides an overview of the roles religious actors played in the erosion of authoritarian rule, the transition to democ…
Bringing the outside in
This article is about the conceptualization of democracy promotion in political science. It argues that democracy promoters in aid-dependent states do not influence the change and stability of political regimes mostly 'from without', as typically assumed in academia. Instead, it mainly takes place 'within' the supported political system. Empirical findings from democracy assistance in Haiti and Mali challenge the typical conceptualization and she…
Not all good things go together
Conflicting objectives are often problematized as challenges to the effectiveness of international democracy promotion. However, systematic research about their emergence and effects is still missing. This special issue addresses this research gap and seeks to provide conceptual and empirical answers in the field of conflicting objectives in international democracy promotion. The authors represented in this special issue investigate (post-) confl…
Religiöse Akteure in Demokratisierungsprozessen
Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion
It's Institutions, Not Theology! Muslim Actors’ Influence on Democratization in Mali
This article aims at explaining religious actors' influence on democratic transition in Mali (1987–1992). It argues that it takes more than political theology to effectively influence democratization processes. Although Muslim actors used their political theology during democratization, they had neither the organizational means nor the legitimization to convince others of their preferences for a post-authoritarian institutional set-up. They had v…
Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion
Foreword 1. Not all good things go together: conflicting objectives in democracy promotion 2. Democracy promotion, empowerment, and self-determination: conflicting objectives in US and German policies towards Bolivia 3. Financing poverty alleviation vs. promoting democracy? Multi-Donor Budget Support in Zambia 4. Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo: managing competing objectives of institution-building and local empowerment 5. Power-sha…
Governing the Interlinkages between the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2015 form a universal and integrated policy agenda to be realized over the next 15 years. One of the targets is the attainment of policy coherence for sustainable development, which requires the individual goals to become interlinked. This article's main research interest lies in assessing how national governments and their competent ministries interpret and strive to implement the target of policy cohe…
Gradual, Cooperative, Coordinated
This article analyzes the success factors for external engagement aimed at fostering peace in conflict-affected states. It focuses on a set of three factors that have been under-researched so far: the strategic prioritization between stability and democracy, the degree of coordination, and the mode of interaction. We compare international engagement in six countries—Burundi, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Senegal, and Timor-Leste. These countries all …
Beyond contestation
This article presents an analytical framework that guides the contributions to this special issue and, in general terms, aims at enabling a systematic investigation of processes of negotiation in the international promotion of democracy. It first briefly introduces the rationale for studying democracy promotion negotiation, offers a definition, and locates the general approach within the academic literature, bringing together different strands of…
Introduction
This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assu…
A sustainable development pathway for climate action within the UN 2030 Agenda
Defining a sustainable development target space for 2030 and 2050
With the establishment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), countries worldwide agreed to a prosperous, socially inclusive, and environmentally sustainable future for all. This ambition, however, exposes a critical gap in science-based insights, namely on how to achieve the 17 SDGs simultaneously. Quantitative goal-seeking scenario studies could help explore the needed systems' transformations. This requires a clear definition of the "tar…
Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion
While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the S…
Protection against autocratisation
This article analyses the conditions under which international democracy support contributes to protecting presidential term limits. As autocratisation has become an unwelcome global trend, researchers turned to the study of the toolboxes of would-be autocrats, including their attempts to circumvent term limits. Through a paired comparison of failed attempts in Malawi (2002) and Senegal (2012), we find that external democracy support can assist d…
Protecting democracy from abroad
The article addresses the question of whether international democracy aid helps to protect presidential term limits – a commonly accepted but increasingly challenged safeguard for democracy. According to our analysis, democracy aid is effective in countering attempts to circumvent term limits, thus, it contributed towards protecting democratic standards in African and Latin American countries between 1990 and 2014. Democracy aid helps to fend off…
What works in democracy support? How to fill evidence and usability gaps through evaluation
The evidence generated and used in development cooperation has changed remarkably over the last decades. When it comes to the field of democracy support, these developments have been less significant. Routinised, evidence-based programming is far from a reality here. Compared to other fields, the goals of the interventions and assumed theories of change remain underspecified. Under these circumstances, evaluating and learning is difficult, and as…
Integrated policymaking
Increased policy coherence and integrated implementation are necessary to address pressing development problems that cut across different sectors. Meeting these demands, as called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requires institutional innovation. Based on the comparative analysis of 137 countries, this paper investigates how governments have responded to this call and which contextual factors shape their institutional response…
Ethics and Equity
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion is crucial to increasing societies’ resilience to shocks and to enabling sustainable futures. Amidst growing tensions and polarization in all world regions, social cohesion ranks high on the agendas of researchers, decision-makers and international organizations. Despite the strong interest in the topic, there are major constraints to understanding its patterns, causes and effects: the lack of a common conceptualization and measur…
Strategic responses to autocratization in international democracy promotion
International democracy promotion across two waves
Political science (20 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Democracy (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Law (12 works) · International Development and Aid (11 works) · Democratization (10 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (10 works) · Political economy (9 works)