Can democratic states transplant the seeds of democracy into developing countries? What have political thinkers going back to the Greek city-states thought about their capacity to promote democracy? How can democracy be established in divided societies? This books answers these and other fundamental questions behind the concept known as 'democracy promotion.' Following an illuminating concise discussion of what political philosophers from Plato to Montesquieu thought about the issue, the authors explore the structural preconditions (culture, divided societies, civil society) as well as the institutions and processes of democracy building (constitutions, elections, security sector reform, conflict, and trade). Along the way they share insights about what policies have worked, which ones need to be improved or discarded, and, more generally, what advanced democracies can do to further the cause of democratization in a globalizing world. In other words, they seek answers to the question, Is democracy exportable?

“This collection of searching essays by a group of distinguished policy-oriented scholars artfully combines contributions that reach deeply into history, philosophy, and culture with others that hew to tough-minded empiricism and practicality. Sobriety and optimism are present in equal measure, leading to telling insights about a basic question of our time: can well-intentioned outside actors affect the democratic destiny of countries around the world?”
– Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

“This book provides a long-overdue corrective to the neglect of the empirical underpinnings of an increasingly important dimension of foreign policy and international relations – efforts to export or promote democracy around the world. It is a creative and solid piece of scholarship that examines this issue from virtually all relevant perspectives.”
– Richard Gunther, The Ohio State University