Responding to democratic decay and crises of governance

The European Union and the convention of Cotonou

Bibliographic Data

ID7743563
AuthorsCarlos Santiso (Johns Hopkins University, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume10
Issue3
Pages148-172
Publication date2003-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510340312331293967
OpenAlexW1966942779
LanguageEN
Citations received11

The co-operation framework adopted in 2000 between the European Union and 77 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) identifies political dialogue and governance conditionality as the core strategies for promoting democracy and anchoring the rule of law in developing countries. However, the mechanisms for suspending aid on political grounds, originally introduced in 1995, remain largely understudied and unevaluated. This article sets out to review the policies and strategies of the European Community aimed at responding to the crises of governance and preventing conflict. It explores the difficult combination of democracy assistance and governance conditionality to prevent democratic regression in politically fragile countries by reviewing the European Community's response to crises of governance in Niger, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire and Fiji. It argues that, although offering appropriate responses to abrupt interruptions in democratization processes, traditional forms of political conditionality have proved largely inadequate for responding to the gradual corrosion of governance and the decay of democracy. Furthermore, conducting structured political dialogue puts further demands on the management of aid, as it converts foreign aid into a highly political endeavour. This article concludes with a set of proposals for enhancing the political coherence of EC political dialogue and governance conditionality

Conditionality · Corporate governance · Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Economics · European union · Good governance · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Development and Aid · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law

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