The State of the Art in International Democracy Promotion: Results of a Joint European-North American Research Network

The international dimension of democracy promotion remains at best under-studied and poorly understood, and in the extreme, hotly debated and criticized by its contemporary detractors. The primary purpose of this article is to offer an overview of the 'state of the art' in international democracy promotion by drawing on the conclusions of a five-year joint European-North American research project devoted to this topic that was funded by the Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA). Specifically, this article draws upon our collective research endeavour to codify the principal questions, issues, and themes that are characteristic of international democracy promotion efforts to date and to assess what we have learned in terms of the further strengthening of democracy promotion efforts and therefore global democracy itself.