Chapter 4: Confronting a Global Democracy Recession: The Role of United States International Democracy Support Programs

The United States, in its foreign and domestic policy, has implicitly—and in many cases explicitly—embraced the two-pronged theory that both civil associations and public schools are essential methods for fostering democratic citizenship at home and abroad. These core ideas harken back to our country’s founding period and have undergirded our conceptions of our own democratic health. A robust civil society is a core tenet of American identity. The concept that citizens should drive the political, economic, and social fabric of their own countries is not specific to democracy in the United States, however, nor is the importance of civic-minded alliance building and of educating citizens in democratic knowledge, skills, and values. To some degree, U.S. support for emerging democracies is grounded in the U.S.’s own historical experiences and academic analyses with respect to the value of democracy to secure a prosperous and peaceful world.