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2025 Democracy Briefer for Funders: What's Happening to European Democracy and What Funders Can Do About It

Sevda Kilicalp, Nils Luyten

Brussels: Philanthropy Europe Association (2025), 52 pp.

"Democratic backsliding in recent years has been characterised by gradual, often legalistic shifts, rather than overt actions like coups. Europe is seeing worrying declines in electoral integrity, civil liberties and rule of law. There are several factors driving democratic backsliding in Europe, bu ... more

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As USAID dies, many of Georgia's "vibrant" CSOs face extinction

Jaba Devdariani

GEOpolitics, issue 16 (2025), 6 pp.

"For decades, Georgia has been one of the largest per capita recipients of U.S. assistance. In 2012-2023, the years in which the Georgian Dream has been in power, total U.S. overseas development assistance (ODA) stands at USD 1 billion 920 mil lion, according to official data. Of course, the lion’ ... more

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Donor Strategies in a time of Paradigm Shift: Mapping of the Donors Active in the Western Balkans

Miroslav Tomic, Mihailo Gajic, Ardiana Gashi

Open Society Foundations, 3rd ed. (2023), 43 pp.

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Mapping of Democratization Support: Final Report

Agnes Cornell

Stockholm: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) (2021), 93 pp.

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Data-Driven Advocacy Midterm Performance Evaluation

Washington Katema, Victoria Lihiru, Bernard Kindoli et al.

Washington, DC: USAID (2021), xii, 89 pp.

"Since August 2017, USAID/Tanzania’s five-year Data-Driven Advocacy (DDA) Activity has sought to improve and sustain Tanzanian civil society’s ability to advocate for and influence policy on key national human rights issues using higher-quality data and information to drive results. Implemented ... more

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Assumption #4: The United States should prioritize the promotion of democracy around the world over other key US objectives

Mathew Burrows, Evan Cooper

Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2021), 11 pp.

"US democracy support should follow a triage approach, providing assistance to countries on the precipice of democratic backsliding, while investing in civil societies that hold promise for advancing democratic values. The United States should leverage its assets while working with partners and alli ... more

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Programming for Democracy: A How-To Guide for Supporting Democratic Governance

Brussels: European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) (2020), 32 pp.

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Democratic Openings and Country Visibility: Media Attention and the Allocation of US Democracy Aid, 1975-2010

James M. Scott, Charles M. Rowling, Timothy M. Jones

Foreign Policy Analysis, volume 16, issue 3 (2020), pp. 373-396

"Late in the twentieth century, the United States embraced democracy promotion as a foreign policy priority, a central component of which involved allocating democracy aid to governments, political parties, and nongovernmental organizations around the world to support and encourage democratization. ... more

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What the EU Should Do for Democracy Support in Africa: Ten Proposals for a New Strategic Initiative in Times of Polarisation

Christine Hackenesch, Julia Leininger, Karina Mross

Brussels; Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2020), 36 pp.

"Proposal 1: Bring democracy support and protection to the core of EU external action and implement this strategic priority in EU foreign relations with Africa (and worldwide). Proposal 2: Develop a new narrative and more strategic approach to democracy support in a geopolitical context where democr ... more

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Louder Than Words? Connecting the Dots of European Democracy Support

Brussels: European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) (2019), 127 pp.

"European support for democracy is at a crossroads. The next decade will have a major bearing on what democracy means for the European Union (EU) at a time of increasing awareness of fundamental technological change, climate risks, demographic adjustment and power shifts between and within continent ... more

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Civil Society & Media in Armenia: A Field Assessment for Learning, Evaluation and Research Activity II (LER II)

Sara Steinmetz, Hasmik Tamamyan et al.

USAID;Cloudburst Consulting Group (2019), 109 pp.

"Three key cross-cutting priority areas for the civil society and media sectors emerge from this analysis: Civic Education: Without wide public understanding of and support for democracy, it is possible for public opinion to be manipulated, or frustrations exploited, and for public support for Armen ... more

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Revitalizing Democracy Assistance to Counter Threats to Democratization

David Black

Washington, DC: German Marshall Fund of the United States (2019), 16 pp.

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Japan's International Democracy Assistance as Soft Power: Neoclassical Realist Analysis

Maiko Ichihara

London; New York: Routledge (2018), xiii, 149 pp.

"Most of Japan's civil society assistance targets media. JICA's policy guideline on peace-building assistance regards media assistance as one of the target categories of Japan's democracy assistance (Japanese International Cooperation Agency JICA, 2009). The International Peace Cooperation Council ( ... Kokusai Heiwa Kyoryoku Kondankai), which was established within the Cabinet Office. recommended boosting Japan's media assistance in its report published in December 2002 (Council on International Peace Cooperation 2002, 42). Japan has assisted media through grants, technical assistance, expert dispatch, expert training, and the provision of materials related to broadcasting (JICA 20046, 50). Japan has provided media assistance mainly to TV and radio stations. According to Masakazu Sakashita (2006, 122), 127 TV media assistance projects and 56 radio assistance projects had been conducted by September 2005, while Japan has never provided media assistance to print media such as newspapers and magazines. This is because Japan regards telecommunication and broadcasting technology as its comparative advantage and thus focuses on those projects that require it. Indeed, the chief characteristic of Japan's media assistance is that it focuses on facilities such as information and telecommunication networks instead of media content. Project contents include the improvement of production capacity and broadcasting skills, repair of ground communication systems, and provision of studio equipment. Seminars are provided to teach how to use and maintain the equipment provided through such projects as well (JICA 20046, 50). Expert training has been conducted for countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka in addition to broadcasting infrastructure assistance, which provided training for program production. However, this training tends to be a mere supplement to broadcasting in frastructure assistance projects (Sakashita 2006, 122). Within JICA, while it is the former Public Policy Department and the current Industrial Development and Public Policy Division that is in charge of democrac y assistance, the Information and Telecommunication Technology Division is in charge of media assistance. This shows that Japan's media assistance is conducted mainly as broadcasting technical assistance rather than democracy assistance, as Sakashita (2006, 122) notes. Japan's media assistance to Afghanistan in 2002 helped broadcast the country's Loya Jirga, or national assembly, on TV via satellite. Its aim was to show the discussion at the national assembly and the process of choosing the interim president of the country to increase the legitimacy of the new administration (JICA 2004a). The political character of this assistance project was distinct compared with Japan's media assistance until then. However, the project assisted only a state hroadcasting station and did not intend to Increase the capacity of primate media's watchdog functions. In this sense, the actual content of this assistance project was state, not civil society assistance. In addition, the contents of this assistance were to upgrade broadcasting in frastructure and provide equipment and training on how to use the equipment. No assistance was provided in terms of the content of the broadcasting. No expert on free and fair broadcasting was included in its preliminary study group, and all the experts were broadcasting technical specialists, which shows the weakness of Japan's interest in supporting the role of media in democracy (JICA 2002). The project document did not set contribution to democracy as an evaluation criterion of the project, either (Sakashita 2006, 124)." (Pages 51-53) more

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International Development Aid Beyond Money: The Push and Pull of Media Democracy Promotion in Three Mercosur Countries

Sarah Anne Ganter

Journal of Latin American Communication Research, volume 6, issue 1-2 (2018), pp. 116-134

"Media democracy promotion is a hidden form of international development aid (IDA). However, the dynamics underlying democracy promotion and their adaptation in local contexts is hardly considered when evaluating or theorizing international media development aid (IMDA). Multi-lateral organizations ( ... more

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Media Development in Syria: The Janus-Faced Nature of Foreign Aid Assistance

Billie Jeanne Brownlee

Third World Quarterly, volume 38, issue 10 (2017), pp. 2276-2294

"This article intends to provide responses to some of the many unanswered questions about the making and the transformation of the uprising in Syria by exploring a new avenue of research: media development aid. Most academic interest has been oriented towards the role that the new media played at th ... more

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Measuring Peacebuilding Cost-Effectiveness

Institute for Economics & Peace (2017), 68 pp.

"1) This paper provides a conceptual framework for counting and categorising peacebuilding activities as well as a hard working-definition of the actions that count as peacebuilding. One of the primary inhibiting factors for assessing peacebuilding cost-effectiveness has been the lack of commonly ag ... reed definitions and confusion about what activities constitute peacebuilding. Without this, it is simply not possible to measure and compare the cost-effectiveness of peacebuilding activities. 2) A comprehensive accounting of global peacebuilding expenditures from 2002 to 2013, using the working definition that was developed in partnership with the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and Peacebuilding Support Group. This is the first known attempt at comprehensively accounting for peacebuilding activities — without this data it is not possible to empirically assess different peacebuilding strategies and assess the cost-effectiveness of them or individual peacebuilding actions. This data shows that peacebuilding activities are unevenly distributed geographically and thematically and are prioritised to differing extents by international donors. 3) A detailed case study of peacebuilding expenditures is presented to analyse an example of peacebuilding success — Rwanda from the wake of genocide to 2014. This analysis shows US$18.35 billion was committed to peacebuilding expenditures in Rwanda from 1995 to 2014. That means peacebuilding commitments in Rwanda from the international community were at least $27 per capita each year for the past 15 years. This demonstrates that the assistance associated with peacebuilding is not exhausted in the five or even ten years following a conflict, meaning that the success of peacebuilding cannot be judged on whether there has been a relapse into a conflict after such a short period of time has elapsed. If some moderate level of peacebuilding expenditure indeed leads to a reduction in violence, and if Rwanda is illustrative of the levels of peacebuilding required to reduce violent conflict, then the current levels of global peacebuilding expenditure are insufficient to build global peace. 4) A global model of the cost-effectiveness of peacebuilding, based on the case study findings and the data generated from them. Using 20 years of peacebuilding expenditure, Rwanda’s experience as a baseline, and combining this with IEP’s research on the global cost of conflict, the paper presents scenario analysis and a model of peacebuilding cost-effectiveness. It finds that using conservative assumptions, the cost-effectiveness ratio of peacebuilding is 1:16, showing that increased funding for peacebuilding would be hugely beneficial not only to peacebuilding outcomes but in terms of the potential economic returns to the global economy. This means that if countries currently in conflict increased or received levels of peacebuilding funding to appropriate levels estimated by this model, then for every dollar invested now, the cost of conflict would be reduced by $16 over the long run. Projected forward ten years from 2016 this would save US$2.94 trillion in direct and indirect losses from conflict. However, achieving this outcome would require an approximate doubling of peacebuilding toward the 31 most fragile and conflict affected nations of the world. Of course, this does not preclude other important factors for peacebuilding success such as the external influence of other states or the role of political elites, but rather establishes a working framework for resources required for programmatic peacebuilding activities. 5) In order to take this research forward, this paper also provides detailed approaches for a future research agenda to look deeper into the ultimate aim of assessing the cost-effectiveness of particular peacebuilding interventions. Through drawing upon existing impact evaluations on peacebuilding interventions in Liberia, it demonstrates a basic approach to how the cost-effectiveness of specific peacebuilding interventions could be compared within a specific context. However, this approach demonstrates the long-term needs for a fully-fledged research agenda in this area. Impact evaluations are resource intensive and require a very significant upscaling of research. Currently, it is estimated that there are only 61 impact evaluations globally on programmes with peacebuilding outcomes. In other domains such as health or education there are hundreds and thousands of such impact evaluations, which highlights the clear need for more impact evaluations in peacebuilding." (Executive summary) more

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To Train a Watchdog: Media Development, Statebuilding, and Measurement in South Sudan

Kerstin Tomiak

Cardiff: Cardiff University, Doctoral Thesis (2017), ix, 291, 94 pp.

"[...] This thesis contributes to the emerging academic literature on media development and its role in statebuilding. It does so by investigating media development in the new state of South Sudan. Ethnographic observations, a social survey, and unstructured interviews have been applied during a fie ... more

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Hands Off my Regime! Governments’ Restrictions on Foreign Aid to Non-Governmental Organizations in Poor and Middle-Income Countries

Kendra Dupuy, James Ron, Aseem Prakasha

World Development, volume 84 (2016), pp. 299-311

"Many resource-strapped developing country governments seek international aid, but when that assistance is channeled through domestic civil society, it can threaten their political control. As a result, in the last two decades, 39 of the world’s 153 low- and middle-income countries have adopted la ... more

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Evaluating Democracy Assistance

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.: Rienner (2013), x, 241 pp.

"A comprehensive, practical guide to the on-the-ground tasks of evaluating and monitoring democracy assistance programs, from planning and implementation to preparing and presenting evaluation reports." (Publisher description)

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Evaluation of Support to the Civil Society in the Western Balkans: Final Report

Annika Nilsson, Joakim Anger, Jim Newkirk

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) (2010), 175 pp.