Democracy Assistance Project

Background of the Project

In 2008, at the World Movement’s Fifth Assembly, a workshop of democracy assistance foundations and civil society groups recommended that participants in democracy programs and funding recipients be asked for their views of how these programs are conceptualized, funded, and implemented. This led the World Movement’s Steering Committee to launch the Democracy Assistance Project, comprising two key components: a series of country case studies based on extensive interviews of democracy assistance recipients and other informed observers in fourteen countries at various stages of democratic development; and an online survey to gauge the views of democracy assistance practitioners and recipients.

At a time of shrinking budgets in both the public and private sectors, many questions are being asked about the value of democracy assistance, including whether the amount of funding is sufficient to meet the demand, whether funds are being spent wisely to maximize their effectiveness, whether they are getting into the hands of people who can put them to the most productive use, whether donors are transparent, whether they are burdening recipients with excessive administrative requirements, and whether projects are oriented more to the needs of donors than recipients. But while the pressure for greater cost-effectiveness will continue to grow, there is a need to affirm the intrinsic value and importance of democracy assistance.

The universal desire to live in a democracy has led individuals and organizations to seek support from those who can provide resources and expertise to help overcome the daunting obstacles to developing the foundations of a free society. It is noteworthy that despite the problems identified by democracy assistance recipients as documented in the two studies, their results resoundingly affirm the importance of such assistance. Large majorities of respondents to the online survey regard it as a valuable form of international aid that should be continued and, where possible, increased. Indeed, recipients’ most frequently cited complaint is that support is insufficiently sustained.

Project Components

Online Survey of Activists

An online survey (PDF) has been conducted by the World Movement Secretariat through which democracy activists, practitioners, and other recipients of democracy assistance were asked to respond to questions about assistance efforts in their respective countries and their own experiences in seeking, receiving, and implementing grants. The questionnaire received responses from nearly 1,500 participants from around the world.

A report (PDF) on the results of the survey has been prepared by Joel D. Barkan, Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Iowa.

Country Case Studies and Synthesis Report

Studies have been arranged and carried out by FRIDE in 14 selected countries, representing a variety of cases regionally and across the democratic development spectrum. The resulting reports provide many insightful perceptions of the approaches of various funders in those countries, and offer views on funding strategies that may be most effective and what can be learned from them. Seminars are being conducted in several of the countries where the studies have taken place to discuss the findings and their implications for the future of democracy assistance. FRIDE has also produced a synthesis report, How to Revitalise Democracy Assistance: Recipients' Views, authored by FRIDE Director General, Richard Youngs, which brings together many of the findings in the country case studies.

Statement of the World Movement Steering Committee

Having reviewed the results of the project to date, the World Movement Steering Committee has prepared a statement (PDF) for the project that reaffirms the importance of democracy assistance in light of the findings of the survey and case studies and offers recommendations to donors and policy makers drawn both from the project and the members’ own knowledge and experiences.

Mapping the Field

FRIDE has developed profiles of various actors in the field of democracy assistance to provide basic information on who is doing what to support democratic development, what their principal programs and priorities are, and how much they are spending.