State fragility has remained a pressing challenge for international security and development policymakers for more than two decades. However, international engagement in fragile states has often failed, in part due to a lack of understanding about what constitutes state fragility. Established...

The worldwide wave of autocratization is doing away with many of the democratic achievements made since 1989. Scholarship on international democracy promotion is yet to theorise how democracy can be protected from autocratization. Such a theory must account for different democratic and...

Non-acceptance of unconstitutional change of government (UCG) has become a central African norm since 1995. For decades, non-interference in state affairs characterized politics in the Organization of African Unity and became a cornerstone of inter-African relations. Against this historical...

Western donors attempting to promote democracy across the globe face a dilemma. Democracy is a highly valued policy goal, but they are fearful that the path to democracy will undermine another highly valued goal – political stability – and potentially cause widespread violence in the...

In this report, the authors analyze Germany's support to democracy. Human rights and democracy have been core values of German foreign policy since the foundation of the Federal Republic in 1949. Germany predominantly draws on civic and peaceful means to promote human rights and democracy. Its...

This policy paper explains why an African democratic norm came into being despite the very heterogeneous membership of the African Union. It offers policy recommendations which address effective defense and promotion of democracy support in Africa.Non-acceptance of Unconstitutional Change of...

It is uncontested that democracy promotion's prospects for success depend on its political context. Most studies agree that domestic factors are the main drivers of democratization despite of international actors' relevant influence on these processes. However, two major flaws remain, which make...

In June 2012 the EU set up the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) with the aim of supporting pro-democracy actors predominantly in the European Neighbour-hood and of doing so quickly, flexibly, unbureaucratically and audaciously. But wish-ful thinking and reality are still separated by a...