The impact of international intervention on democratic development: Haiti and the 2005/2006 elections

Since the fall of the Duvalier regime in 1986 the international community, led by the United States, has been actively supporting democratization in Haiti. All levels of intervention, from election monitoring and political support to economic embargos and armed intervention have been utilized. What effect did these actions have on the quality of democracy in Haiti? By looking at the history of Haiti based democratic development programs, international interventions and the performance and capabilities of key institutions like the Judiciary, political parties and the Provisional Electoral Council, this research assesses the effect these interventions had on the quality of democratic development in Haiti from 1986 to 2010. This work looks closely at the transnational networks that evolve between domestic institutions, international organizations like the UN and OAS, the myriad human rights and development NGOs, and foreign governments. With that background in place the research examines in detail the 2005/2006 Presidential electoral cycle. During this period Haiti had the highest concentration of international actors supporting the electoral process, including a 7,000 strong UN military mission and dozen of electoral support NGOs.;Despite all the attention by the internal community to democratic development in Haiti, very little progress has been achieved. In many ways, the impact of international interventions had a negative or net neutral effect on the quality of democracy in Haiti. Now, with the devastation of the January 12 earthquake, Haiti and the international community have to decide how to rebuild Haiti's democracy without repeating the clear mistakes from the past. By looking closely at the real capabilities of Haitian institutions and the actual effectiveness of past democracy support, as laid out in this research, effective, sustainable improvement in the quality of democracy can be gradually achieved.