The transnational politics of democracy promotion: Election monitoring in Latin America

Does international democracy assistance facilitate democratic consolidation? This dissertation studies the transnational politics of election monitoring in Latin America to explore theoretical and applied questions about the influence of international and domestic civic actors on national politics. Using an original data set on international and domestic election monitoring during national elections in twenty-four Latin American countries between 1982 and 2002, I analyze trends in monitoring practice and correlate these trends with democratic outcomes. Comparative case studies of Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua suggest a series of contextual factors that condition how well election assistance works.; I find that election monitoring can and does aid democratization, but not principally by improving elections. I argue that election monitoring is an effect of democratic opening rather than a cause. I show that election monitoring in the Americas is both an expanding and an increasingly transnational practice, that is, monitoring involves significant roles for both state and non-state actors. I demonstrate that the transnational practice of election monitoring has contributed to the emergence and expansion of a regional democracy regime in the Americas. In addition, I show that international democracy assistance can be effective in creating, nurturing and supporting democratic civic actors. My research suggests that the success of international democracy promoters in nurturing domestic pro-democracy organizations depends on the past history of international intervention in the state in question, the balance that is achieved between international and domestic actors engaged in transnational democracy promotion, and the nature of civil society in the receiving state.