Democratic Transformation and Obstruction

Although "democracy promotion" has become a popular term for policy makers and scholars, democratization is rarely a smooth or linear transition. While some countries quickly democratize, others lag behind despite a long period of democracy promotion activities. Furthermore, while democracy promotion itself has been widely studied, there is a paucity of literature available assessing the outcome or the impact of democracy promotion.

This book investigates democracy promotion by the European Union and the United States of America, and seeks to uncover why intensive democracy promotion has resulted in limited democratic progress. Exploring case studies of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, this book examines the conditions in which democracy promotion is more likely to result in democratic transformation. In addition, it introduces the concept of the "democracy blocker," a powerful authoritarian regional actor that is capable of blocking democratization in other countries.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Political Science, Democracy, Democratization, EU Studies, US Politics, Comparative Politics, and Foreign Policy.

Tables Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction PART I DEMOCRACY PROMOTION, DEMOCRATIZATION, TRANSFORMATION 1. The Hybridism of Democratic Transformation 2. Conditions of Democratic Transformation, Cases, and Methods PART II LOCAL INGREDIENTS OF THE GLOBAL DEMOCRATIC RECIPE 3. The South Caucasus: The Road to Democracy or a Blind Alley? 4. The EU and the US: Confusion, Ambitions, and the Reality PART III SECTORAL DEMOCRATIC TRANSFORMATION 5. Elections in the South Caucasus: A Potemkin Village rather than a Solid Construction 6. Parties in the South Caucasus: Do They Really Matter? 7. Media in the South Caucasus: The Watchdog May Bark but Rarely Bite Conclusions: The Damsel in Distress and the Bully in the Sandbox Bibliography