8/13/2019 Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-a-worldwide-movement-for-democracy 1/4

Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy:The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations

By Carl GershmanPresident, The National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy [NED] supports hundreds of groupsthroughout the world that are engaged in !irtually all of the areas of wor"that contri#ute to the promotion of democracy, says Carl Gershman,President of the NED since $%&'( The Endowment is a pri!ate, nonprofitorgani)ation created in $%&* to strengthen democratic institutions aroundthe world through nongo!ernmental efforts( The Endowment is go!erned #yan independent, nonpartisan #oard of directors( +ith its annualcongressional appropriation, it ma"es hundreds of grants each year to

support pro democracy groups in -frica, -sia, Central and Eastern Europe,.atin -merica, the /iddle East, and the former 0o!iet 1nion(

I n recent years, it has ecome fashiona le to emoan the set ac!s to the"rocess of democratization, the "ersistence of dictatorial regimes in theworld, and the growing strength of anti#democratic ideologies and "oliticalmovements, most "rominent among them eing $slamic radicalism% But thisnew "essimism overloo!s an e&tremely significant, if also une&"ected,develo"ment that contains a ho"eful message a out the state ofdemocratization in the world and the "ossi ilities for further "rogress in theyears ahead% 'i!e the dog that did not ar! in the (herloc! )olmes mystery,this une&"ected develo"ment is not something that has ha""ened, utrather something that has not ha""ened ## namely the a sence of a

*reverse wave* of authoritarian resurgence following what the "oliticalscientist (amuel )untington du ed democracy+s *third wave%*

The third wave refers to the two decades of glo al democratic e&"ansionthat followed the ortuguese revolution in -./0, a "eriod when the num erof democracies in the world increased e&"onentially, from 0- to anywherefrom /1 to --/, de"ending on how one counts% 2fter each of the "recedingtwo waves of democratic e&"ansion, the first starting with the 2mericanRevolution and running through World War $, and the second followingWorld War $$, democracy suffered a significant retreat% The first retreatoccurred during the -.34s and -.54s with the rise of fascism andcommunism, and the second came during the -.14s and early -./4s whenfragile new democracies in 2frica and 'atin 2merica succum ed to "arty andmilitary dictatorshi"s%

(omething similar was su""osed to have ha""ened over the last decade inthe wa!e of the third wave, ut it didn+t% 'arry Diamond, relying u"on datacom"iled y 6reedom )ouse in its annual 6reedom in the World survey, haswritten that *only -0 of the -37 democracies that have e&isted during thethird wave have ecome authoritarian, and in nine of these, democracy hassince een restored%* The "icture is not all right, since "rogress toward

1

8/13/2019 Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-a-worldwide-movement-for-democracy 2/4

democracy has stalled in many "ost#authoritarian countries, leadingscholars to s"ea! of the emergence of hy rid or semi#authoritarian regimesthat com ine illi eral features, such as a dominant e&ecutive authority thatlargely controls the media and the 8udiciary, with democratic 9or "seudo#democratic elections% But a standoff is a far cry from a roll# ac!, and thefact that so many emerging democracies have not colla"sed es"ea!s a new

reality that ears the seeds of ho"e%

;ertainly one factor that accounts for the resilience of democracy today isthe a sence of an antidemocratic ideology with universal as"irations, ascommunism and fascism were in the "ast, that offers a rival alternative todemocratic universalism% But there is an even more im"ortant factor, onethat animates the "rinci"le of democratic universalism in the everyday lifeof "eo"le around the world and, y so doing, also validates its authenticity%This factor is the "resence in every culture and region of the world wheredemocracy is wea! or none&istent of grassroots democratic movementscom"osed of ordinary "eo"le who are struggling and sacrificing, often atgreat ris! to their own safety, to uild societies that res"ect the right of all"eo"le to life, li erty, and the "ursuit of ha""iness%

(uch movements re"resent a new agent of change in the world, and also a"owerful "ressure against the return of dictatorshi"% <ust a =uarter of acentury ago they hardly e&isted at all, e&ce"t for small enclaves ofdissidents in communist countries or isolated *third world democrats* whodefied the conventional wisdom in their insistence that develo"ing countriesneeded and could achieve democracy% But y the -.>4s the (olidaritymovement had emerged in oland, and throughout ;entral ?uro"e and evenin the (oviet @nion inde"endent cultural and media grou"s started s"ringingu", along with grou"s "ressing for human and minority rights% 2s the thirdwave gathered momentum, a wide variety of civic and democratic reformgrou"s also ecame active in 2sia, 2frica, and 'atin 2merica, among them

the National Movement for 6ree ?lections 9N2M6R?' in the hili""ines, the$nstitute for a Democratic 2lternative 9$D2(2 in (outh 2frica, the )umanRights 2ctivists in @ganda, the women+s organization ;onciencia in2rgentina, Radio Nanduti in araguay, the National ;ivic ;rusade in

anama, and the Movement for 6ree ?lections in ;hile% (uch grou"s soonegan to "roliferate y the hundreds and even thousands%

Today these grou"s e&ist throughout ?ast and (outh 2sia, 'atin 2merica,2frica, ;entral ?uro"e, the ?urasian region of the former (oviet @nion, andthe Middle ?ast% The National ?ndowment for Democracy alone su""ortshundreds of them engaged in virtually all of the areas of wor! thatcontri ute to the "romotion of democracy% Many wor! on human rights

issues, not 8ust monitoring and investigating violations and alerting theinternational community to a uses, ut "roviding legal aid, educating the"u lic, and advocating for legislative and institutional reforms% Others focuson educating and involving young "eo"le in the "olitical "rocess, ormotivating and em"owering women y training them in the newcommunications technologies, informing them of their rights, and also"rotecting them against oth domestic violence and socioeconomicdiscrimination%

2

8/13/2019 Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-a-worldwide-movement-for-democracy 3/4

;ivic education is a large area of wor!, oth in the formal school system andin the community, as are conflict resolution and "eace education, es"eciallyin dee"ly divided societies% The "romotion of inde"endent media is also a"riority, involving everything from sustaining inde"endent "u lications andradios to training grou"s in the use of des!to" "u lishing, connecting themto the $nternet, training investigative re"orters and also develo"ing su""ort

systems to "rotect them from intimidation and violence%

olitical "arty develo"ment is a critically im"ortant area of wor!, as areelection monitoring y trained domestic o servers and get#out#the#votedrives% There are thin! tan!s and usiness grou"s that encourage goodcor"orate governance, fight corru"tion, and aid the develo"ment of alegislative and "olitical environment that will encourage economicinvestment and growth% 2nd there are also trade unions that defend therights of wor!ers and give them a voice in sha"ing the governmental andinternational financial "olicies that affect their well# eing% There are grou"sthat wor! to strengthen local government and to ma!e governmentaccounta le at all levelsA while others train civilians in issues of nationaldefense to ena le them to monitor security "olicy and discourage theinvolvement of the military in "olitics%

This y no means e&hausts the areas of wor! or ty"es of activities carriedout y nongovernmental organizations 9N Os throughout the world% $t ises"ecially im"ortant to note that these activities are develo"ed and initiated

y the grou"s themselves and are therefore tailored to address the s"ecific"ro lems in each country and local situation% Thus, in countries ruled ydictatorshi"s, the "rograms focus on defending human rights and "romotingthe free flow of information, which are the most relevant and feasi le !indsof activities in closed systems% $n semi#authoritarian countries, "rogramstend to focus on defending the "olitical s"ace availa le to inde"endentN Os and media, em"owering civil society and lin!ing it more closely to

democratic "olitical grou"s and "arties, there y develo"ing a more unitedo""osition as a counterweight to the dominant state% $n emergingdemocracies the em"hasis is on fighting corru"tion, monitoring the"erformance of "u lic officials and ma!ing government accounta le to thesociety, and strengthening the rule of law% 2nd in war#torn and "ost#conflictsocieties, N Os focus on cur ing violence, fostering reconciliation, and

uilding a culture of tolerance and res"ect for "luralism and minority rights%$n Muslim countries in the Middle ?ast and other regions, many "rogramsfocus on "romoting women+s rights and li eral ideas that reconcile $slamwith modern conce"ts of "luralism, citizenshi", and democracy%

2s this vast constellation of N Os has develo"ed over the "ast decade#and#

a#half, a corres"onding system of donor and su""ort agencies has come intoeing in the esta lished democracies% overnment develo"ment agenciesnow "rovide democracy assistance, as do em assies and even foreignministries% Multilateral agencies have also ecome involved, including the@nited Nations Develo"ment rogram and other "arts of the @%N% system, aswell as regional odies such as the Organization of 2merican (tates, the?uro"ean @nion, and the Organization for (ecurity and ;oo"eration in?uro"e% These governmental and multilateral agencies wor! "rimarily onissues of governmental reform, though they also "rovide hel" to N Os% But

3

8/13/2019 Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-a-worldwide-movement-for-democracy 4/4

governments often find it difficult to su""ort inde"endent N Os, so thisfunction is increasingly eing "erformed y a growing array of "u liclyfunded democracy and "arty foundations li!e the N?D and its four coreinstitutes, which re"resent the two ma8or @%(% "olitical "arties, the tradeunion movement and the usiness community% (uch foundations now e&istin most ?uro"ean countries and in ;anada, and the first 2sian foundation

has 8ust een esta lished in Taiwan% $n addition, there are many "rivatelyfunded foundations that "lay an im"ortant role in this field, es"ecially the6ord 6oundation and the foundations esta lished y the "hilanthro"ist

eorge (oros%

The growth of democracy organizations in the "ost#communist anddevelo"ing countries and of su""ort agencies in the esta lisheddemocracies is an entirely new feature of the architecture of contem"orary"olitics% $t is still too early to 8udge the im"act of these new structures ofcoo"eration, though it is "ro a ly safe to say that they have increased thedemocratic "ressure from elow on governments in oth authoritarian and"ost#authoritarian societies, there y forcing reforms that might not haveotherwise een im"lemented and also restraining governments from ta!ingregressive measures% But much more needs to e done, in "articular in two

road areas%

6irst, the esta lished democracies must find new ways to e&ercise theircollective weight in all as"ects of democracy "romotion, from develo"ingcoordinated strategies to influence the ehavior of recalcitrant and corru"tgovernments to defending and em"owering grou"s wor!ing nonviolently fordemocratic change% The ;ommunity of Democracies 9;D offers a new forumwhere such strategies can e develo"ed, though it remains at a nascentstage% (econd, the nongovernmental grou"s themselves must strengthentheir ca"acity to networ! and aid each other, share e&"erience, defendthose who face "ersecution and danger, and forge a dee"er sense of

common "ur"ose regionally and internationally% )ere, too, there is a newglo al initiative, the World Movement for Democracy 9WMD , which is only

eginning to develo" its structures and "otential%

Ta!en together, the ;D and the WMD can e mutually reinforcing, creatingthe governmental "ressures from a ove and the nongovernmental"ressures elow that will hel" new democracies consolidate theirinstitutions and also stimulate further democratic gains% Whether this willlead to a fourth wave of democratization is anyone+s guess, ut even"rogress short of that will ma!e the world a much safer and more "eaceful"lace%

The opinions e2pressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the !iews or policies of the 1(0( go!ernment(

4