External Democracy Promotion in Post-Conflict Zones a Comparative-Analytical Framework

Abstract

We investigate whether countries can emerge from civil wars as democracies and to what extent and by what means external actors can support such a transition. While the effects of peacebuilding on peace are well documented, there is hardly any investigation of the effects of peacebuilding on peace and democracy. This essay serves as an introduction to a research project hosted by Freie Universitat Berlin on postwar democratization. It intends to give an overview of the relevant literature and to describe the research design. We rely on a qualitative comparative approach, using evidence from nine case studies on postwar democratic transitions in Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Timor-Leste. With the exception of the case study on Macedonia, all case studies are presented in this special issue of the Taiwan Journal of Democracy.