2008 Articles

Dour Democrats

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

Georgia, Russia and Armenia have all held presidential elections this year, and in each case, the outcomes demonstrate that efforts to strengthen democracy are either stagnant or, more worryingly, failing. These elections, and the political contexts in which they occurred, were distinct from each other, but together they point toward the major challenges facing the advance of democracy and policies to support it. All three of elections demonstrate the importance of developing democracy assistance strategies that can help liberalize illiberal regimes or stop the slide of semi-democracies toward authoritarianism.