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17 Brown J. World Aff. 89 (2010-2011)
Premature Democracy: Waking up to the Reality of Incomplete Democratic Transitions in Latin America

handle is hein.journals/brownjwa17 and id is 95 raw text is: Premature Democracy: Waking Up to the Reality of Incomplete Democratic Transitions in Latin America HOWARD J. WIARDA AND MATTHEW Q. CLARY OVER THE LAST THIRTY YEARS, the world has seen a large and diverse number of nations transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. These waves of de- mocratization represent a dominant shift in the nature of international relations and how policymakers in the United States and elsewhere perceive development and democratization. At the end of the Cold War, this shift in focus became one of the most predominant features of American foreign policy. Nations in nearly every corner of the world began to liberalize and transition to democracy in numbers larger than at any other time in history. However, while some nations continue to undergo democratization, others have either failed to successfully consolidate democracy or experienced a slide back toward authoritarianism as they began to face economic and social difficulties during their respective transitions. Such failures raise an in- teresting question for democracy promotion as a basis for US foreign policy: is the promotion of democracy a feasible and beneficial policy to pursue in every case? One of the major assumptions in discussions of US foreign policy over the past three decades regarding democracy promotion has been that democracies can and should be constructed in every nation-no matter the respective socioeconomic, cultural, historical, geographical, or psychological conditions present there. Given the increased importance placed on the promotion of democracy in developing nations as well as, contrarily, the increased occurrence of failing and struggling democra- cies (e.g., Haiti, Somalia, Russia, Honduras, Iraq, and Afghanistan), it is critical for Howard J. Wiarda is the Dean Rusk Professor of International Relations and Head of the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. Matthew Q. Clary is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Georgia. Brown Journal of World Affairs, Copyright @ 2010 FALL / WINTER 2010 m VOLUME XVII, ISSUE 1 89