Evaluating European Union promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance: towards a participatory approach

Following an examination of European Union (EU) rhetoric on promoting human rights and democracy in third countries, this article focuses on how its practice can best be evaluated. It analyses recent evaluation studies of European Community (EC) democracy programmes in different regions, but finds that methodological shortcomings restrict their value. Thus, an alternative evaluation methodology is proposed. This is based on a participatory approach in which informed local actors would play a key role in assessing EC efforts. Advantages include a more rigorous critique, with lessons learnt integrated into revised programmes characterised by greater domestic control and authorship, as befits the nature of democratization.