Jan Hornat: Transatlantic Democracy Assistance. Promoting Different Models of Democracy.
Abstract
The approaches of EU institutions and the US to democracy assistance
often vary quite significantly as both actors choose different means and
tactics. The nuances in the understandings of democracy on the part of the
EU and the US lead to their promotion of models of democratic governance
that are often quite divergent and, in some respects, clashing.
This book examines the sources of this divergence and by focusing on the
role of the actors’ "democratic identity" it aims to explain the observation
that both actors use divergent strategies and instruments to foster
democratic governance in third countries. Taking a constructivist view, it
demonstrates that the history, expectations and experiences with
democracy of each actor significantly inform their respective definition of
democracy and thus the model of democracy they promote abroad.
This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in
democracy promotion, democratization, political theory, EU and US foreign
policy and assistance, and identity research.
Author Biography
Veronika Bílková
Veronika Bílková is the head of the Centre for International Law at the Institute of
International Relations in Prague and associate professor in international
law at the Law Faculty of Charles University. She is also a member and the
vice-president of the European Commission for Democracy through Law of
the Council of Europe (the Venice Commission) and the secretary-general of
the European Society of International Law. She is a holder of the European
Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation and the Diploma in
International Law from the University of Cambridge. She was a visiting
scholar at Columbia Law School in New York, Université Paris II - Panthéon
Assas, Northumbria University of Newcastle and the Max Planck Institute
for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. She has
authored several books and more than 100 articles in Czech, English and French on international law (mainly the use of force, international
humanitarian law, the fight against terrorism, international criminal law,
and human rights) and international relations (mainly security topics, the
UN and Czech foreign policy).