The promotion of democracy in Africa has become the dominant theme of South Africa’s foreign policy. Yet the dilemmas this policy has confronted in practice have forced the government to alter its approach.
About the Author
Chris Landsberg teaches in the Department of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Between October 1999 and May 2000, he was a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.
Democracy-aid providers are moving away from one-size-fits-all strategies and are adapting their programs to diverse political contexts. Two distinct overall approaches to assisting democracy have emerged in response.
The lines between the development-aid and democracy-aid communities have been blurring, in terms of both organizational boundaries and activities on the ground, but the convergence is far from complete.
