International Aid and Democracy Promotion is the all-too-rare example of thoughtful theorizing and testing that is crafted into a powerful, politically meaningful, plausible program for improving political liberalization. Bann Seng Tan has contributed significantly to the theory of foreign aid; to rigorous empirical tests of his theoretically-developed hypotheses; to nuanced regional and case study analyses that nail down what can work and what cannot work in inducing greater political accountability; and he has done so in a way that opens the path to actual improvement in the well-being of people around the world. International Aid and Democracy Promotion does what the best social science should and can do. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how to promote better governance or, for that matter, better social science.
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Julius Silver Professor of Politics at New York University, USA
This is a must-read book for scholars and students of democracy promotion. Bann Seng Tan employs both quantitative and qualitative evidence to test and further develop a political economy model that incorporates geopolitical salience, domestic politics, and the bargaining power of the governments that receive foreign assistancenot just those providing it. The book explains the success and failure of democracy promotion efforts in specific cases, but also suggests how donors can deploy such assistance more effectively.
Michael J. Tierney, George and Mary Hylton Professor of Government and Director of the William & Mary Global Research Institute, USA
This book offers a refreshing perspective on the international dimension of democratization and delineates the conditions under which democratic aid can, in fact, be effective. Using selectorate theory and informed by strategic leveraging and bargaining processes among donors and recipients, the author combines originally compiled big data analysis with careful case studies from Africa and Asia (as well as wide range of recipient countries such as Myanmar, Fiji, and Egypt). He meticulously demonstrates the importance of the incentives of both the donors and the recipients in this game of democratic aid. This book will be of great value not only to the foreign aid community but also to politicians and policy makers, who, in this world of persistent democratic backsliding, do not lose hope and aim to navigate effectively so as to nudge the autocrats in the right direction.
Mine Eder, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Boazii University, Turkey
This book ties theory and the application of aid in the promotion of democratization to selected country case studies. The topic is both interesting and timely for testing a number of hypotheses in the literature including how such aid favours incumbent regimes and the inability of donors to stay focussed on original goals over time. It is also thoughtful in its reflections on older questions like the linkage between aid and development on the one hand and democratization on the other. This book is a welcome addition to the studies on political development in general and the circumstances surrounding the onset and consolidation of democracy.
Narayanan Ganesan, Professor of Southeast Asian Politics at Hiroshima Peace Institute at Hiroshima City University, Japan
International Aid and Democracy Promotion
International Aid and Democracy Promotion investigates the link between foreign aid and the promotion of democracy, using theory, statistical tests, and illustrative case studies.
This book challenges the field of development to recognize that democracy promotion is unlike other development goals. With a goal like economic development, the interests of the recipient and the donor coincide; whereas, with democratization, authoritarian recipients have strong reasons to oppose what donors seek. The different motivations of donors and recipients must be considered if democracy aid is to be effective. The author examines how donors exercise their leverage over aid recipients, and, more importantly, why, using selectorate theory to understand the incentives of both aid donors and recipients.
International Aid and Democracy Promotion will be of great interest to academics and students of development and democratization, as well as policymakers with authority over foreign aid allocation.
Bann Seng Tan is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ashoka University, India.
Democratization Studies
(Formerly Democratization Studies, Frank Cass)
Democratization Studies combines theoretical and comparative studies with detailed analyses of issues central to democratic progress and its performance, all over the world.
The books in this series aim to encourage debate on the many aspects of democratization that are of interest to policy-makers, administrators and journalists, aid and development personnel, as well as to all those involved in education.
The Legitimacy of Citizen-led Deliberative Democracy
The G1000 in Belgium
Didier Caluwaerts and Min Reuchamps
Democracy Assistance Bypassing Governments in Recipient Countries
Supporting the Next Generation
Paulina Pospieszna
Transatlantic Democracy Assistance
Promoting Different Models of Democracy
Jan Hornat
Innovations, Reinvented Politics and Representative Democracy
Edited by Agns Alexandre-Collier, Alexandra Goujon and Guillaume Gourgues
Nationalism, Referendums and Democracy
Voting on Ethnic Issues and Independence
2nd edition
Edited by Matt Qvortrup
International Aid and Democracy Promotion
Liberalization at the Margins
Bann Seng Tan
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Democratization-Studies/book-series/DS
International Aid and Democracy Promotion
Liberalization at the Margins
Bann Seng Tan
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2021 Bann Seng Tan
The right of Bann Seng Tan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-50585-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-05043-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Unice Soh
Brief table of contents
Detailed table of contents
