Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992-2002

While many African countries have made impressive strides in strengthening democracy and human rights within their own borders, there remains a serious gap in their support of democracy as a part of their foreign policy. This is the conclusion of Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992-2002, recently published by the Democracy Coalition Project, a research and advocacy nongovernmental organization involved in democracy promotion around the world.

Released in conjunction with the second Community of Democracies (CD) meeting held in Seoul, Korea, the report assesses the foreign policy records of forty countries, ten of them from Africa, against four principal criteria: response to the overthrow of democratically elected governments; response to manipulation of electoral processes; promotion of international norms and values of democracy and human rights; and policy toward entrenched dictatorships. All surveyed states have endorsed the Warsaw Declaration, the CD’s founding document, which commits the governments to strengthening democratic institutions, practices, and values at home and abroad. This publication marks a first-ever attempt to systematically chronicle how governments have addressed democratic violations in neighboring countries. The publication examines these 10 governments’ reactions to such cases as the Abacha regime in Nigeria, the military coup in Côte d’Ivoire in 1999, and the flawed Zimbabwean elections in 2002.

In addition to documenting an increase in support for democratic norms and processes internally, the survey established an upward trend in African countries’ willingness to back international efforts that promote such institutions. However, serious problems remain. Recent developments such as those surrounding the flawed elections in Zimbabwe demonstrate enduring tensions between democracy promotion and the long-standing principles of non-intervention and solidarity that have traditionally governed Africa’s interstate relations. These tensions have repeatedly prevented a more concerted effort on the part of many countries from actively defending democracy beyond their borders in a consistent and coherent manner.

When it comes to transforming rhetoric into action, many African states are reluctant to jeopardize otherwise stable relations with neighbors to support democratic principles. In other words, they are willing to support democracy as long as it does not conflict with more traditional national interests or domestic political concerns, particularly in the security and economic spheres. All ten countries surveyed received poor ratings when it came to their policy toward dictators. In these cases, as well as in response to the overthrow of democratically elected regimes and electoral malpractice, African democracies are likely to fall back on the principles of African solidarity irrespective of normative commitments around democracy and human rights. The principle of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of their regional neighbors, enshrined in the 1963 Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU – now the African Union or AU), is one that has been used repeatedly to justify not responding to various forms of democratic violations. Policies founded on personal relationships, aversion to perceived Western attempts to dominate regional political affairs, and a lingering commitment to the principles of African solidarity have all combined to prevent many African governments from actively defending democracy in the region and at the global level.

Even as African organizations’ records regarding the promotion of democracy have improved, voting patterns within international organizations, such as the United Nations, remain inconsistent on issues related to human rights and democracy. In such forums, African leaders are not inclined to criticize the undemocratic tendencies of their colleagues. For example, on key UN resolutions condemning the human rights situation in Nigeria under Abacha, the Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the majority of African states surveyed abstained from voting throughout the past five years. Abstentions can be tantamount to ‘no’ votes in such circumstances. Almost all surveyed countries supported the UN resolution regarding respect for principles of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of states in their electoral processes. The controversial March 2002 Zimbabwean elections are another example of the inconsistencies found in Africa’s record for defending democracy. Only Ghana and Senegal clearly condemned the elections as neither free nor fair, while the others either remained silent or declared their support for Mugabe and his efforts to disregard external criticism of his intimidation of the opposition.

Despite these findings, it is evident that commitments to democracy are expanding throughout Africa and the majority of countries surveyed have good records regarding the international promotion of democracy. The report found that the goal of regional stability is cited as a force or incentive for promoting democracy in the region. Countries such as Nigeria have acknowledged the importance of the international democratic community to their own post-authoritarian transition and recognize that it is in their interest to champion democracy in Africa. Likewise, a number of countries (e.g. Senegal, Ghana, and Botswana) use their international reputations as models of democratic political stability to wield influence out of proportion to their modest demographic and economic weight to promote democracy regionally. There is also growing willingness among African governments to contribute to interstate mediation and conflict resolution processes within the region, and to provide technical assistance to and participation in election-monitoring and peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, various regional initiatives have begun to prioritize democracy goals. Most notably, NEPAD includes a peer review mechanism that emphasizes democracy and good governance as criteria for membership, and the Constitutive Act of the AU states as a primary objective of the organization the promotion of “democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance.” Increasingly, governments have demonstrated their preference for proceeding under the auspices of regional organizations such as the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), rather than pursuing action unilaterally.

As one looks across the landscape, there are reasons to be optimistic about the future of democracy in Africa. Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, among others, exemplify that views are changing on the continent and that as democracy sinks deeper roots within a country, the more that country will be willing to defend democracy beyond its borders. At the same time, there is also reason to be wary of the inconsistencies that many of these countries have demonstrated in how far they are willing to go to strengthen democratic institutions, as demonstrated by the ongoing reluctance to criticize events in Zimbabwe. Regional institutions may be part of the answer to this gap. A consensus is emerging regarding the need for “democracy clauses” to be included in regional agreements and organizations. However, the region as a whole needs to put more effort into translating the principle of democracy into practice, not just at home, but abroad as well.

For more information about the survey, or to read individual country chapters, please visit: http://www.demcoalition.org [2]. To obtain a copy of the report, please contact the Democracy Coalition Project at: [email protected] [3].