Publication

This paper argues that engagement with nondemocratic regimes, underpinned by the assumptions of modernization theory, is desirable, but that political leverage is also needed to unblock the potential of liberalizing reform. For a variety of reasons, in today’s environment punitive sanctions cannot be considered a pre-eminent tool for democracy promotion. More positive incentives, such as financial rewards in return for regimes introducing reforms, can still be used to greater effect, but must also be conceived as part of a broader range of policy instruments. Western governments concerned with advancing democracy internationally need to move from narrowly conceived conditionality to broader means of exerting political leverage. This paper suggests a number of ways in which they should make this move.