Empower People For Democracy To Succeed, Analyst Tells Biden

This week, US President Joe Biden will hold a virtual Summit for Democracy to amplify US commitments to defend democracy. But beyond grand statements, what can Biden realistically hope to achieve from the summit?

Photo Insert: US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State meet with the over 100 world leaders participating in the Summit for Democracy.

After all, prior US efforts to promote democracy abroad have largely failed, Prof. Catherine E. Herrold and Aseem Prakash stressed in an opinion piece for Foreign Policy.

A key reason is that US democracy brokers seek to recreate the world in the image of the US image. They focus on electoral democracy, rely on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out technical democracy-building projects, and neglect citizens’ multifaceted priorities as they target national political institutions.

This approach stokes domestic polarization, fails to challenge dictators, and lacks credibility with citizens in the target countries—especially now that the US own institutions have proven so fallible.

A humbler approach is needed in which the US creates a platform for dialogue about how to shift power to citizens rather than prescribing democracy templates, Herrold and Prakash argued.

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