Charting the Path Forward for Democratic Development

NDI's work around the world has shown that time and time again, people around the world overwhelmingly choose democracy to safeguard their human rights, produce prosperity for their communities, and effectively deliver public services. What's more, democratic systems have been proven to foster global stability, deliver economic justice, and act as bulwarks against humanitarian conflict - making democracy's expansion worldwide a key lever of U.S. national security.

Yet emerging challenges and evolving authoritarian threats have consigned global democracy to a historic crossroads. The U.S. and its democratic allies must rise to the moment with cutting-edge, coordinated approaches to support inclusive, sustainable development around the globe.

NDI President Tamara Cofman Wittes discussed this precipice at an event hosted by the Wilson Center on July 18, 2024, launching the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s new Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) policy. Dr. Wittes joined a panel moderated by Shannon Green, USAID's Assistant to the Administrator for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance. USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Wilson Center President & CEO Ambassador Mark Green provided opening remarks.

USAID's new DRG policy provides "essential guidance for forging new partnerships, refining our tools, and modernizing our approaches" for democratic development. The policy builds on decades of USAID's support for democracy and good governance, reflecting lessons learned and integrating evidence from USAID's presence in more than 100 countries. While rooted in past DRG strategy, it recognizes the need for adaptation, specifically "the deployment of a more expansive and nimble set of tools that can address both new and longstanding challenges."

Dr. Wittes lauded how the new policy bolsters U.S. national security objectives. "In many ways, this shift in USAID's approach to democracy, human rights and governance is completing a picture across U.S. government foreign policy tools," Dr. Wittes said. "American national security and our most successful military alliances don't just rest on hard power - they rest on shared values [and] on shared democratic commitments."

Central to the new policy is a set of four "pivots," which are strategic changes aimed at enabling the acceleration of democratic development. These are:

1. Harness all of USAID's influence and development programs to pursue democratic progress.
2. Intensify the focus on norms and values that build social cohesion and cultivate democratic political culture and processes.
3. Advance digital democracy by supporting rights-respecting approaches to data and technology.
4. Elevate anti-corruption as critical to democracy and development, with a focus on transnational corruption, grand corruption, and kleptocracy.

As Pivot 1 highlights, the new policy will serve as a roadmap not just for the DRG Bureau - which was created in 2023 to lead USAID's efforts in this area - but will be mainstreamed across the entire agency. Dr. Wittes underscored the importance of this whole-of-agency approach, noting, "This policy recognizes in a way that I have not seen before in any guidance document the need to incorporate the goals, frames and strategies of democratic support into every aspect of how USAID works."

Dr. Wittes also recognized the transformative nature of Pivot 2, agreeing that a norms and values-based approach to expanding democracy is needed to complement DRG's longstanding attention to institutions and actors. "For those of us who have been in this space for a while, we've always focused on democratic institutions … and on democratic actors, but I like thinking more about democratic societies, about communities, about culture, and about solidarity across communities," she said.

Referencing Pivot 3's focus on digital democracy, Dr. Wittes discussed the importance of protecting information integrity on and offline, asserting, "A healthy information ecosystem is critical to effective citizen participation in democracy." Convening government, civil society, and private sector stakeholders, as NDI has done regularly since 2018, can ensure that emerging technologies are fruitful vectors for democratic development rather than disruptive detractors.

Pivot 4 elevates anti-corruption programming to be a central component of democratic development. As NDI's own research has shown, supporting anti-corruption actors and building transparent and accountable institutions can safeguard against illiberal influences. Recent NDI resources such as the Civil Society Checklist for Debt Transparency, Parliamentary Corruption-Proofing Guide, and Open Governance Tools for Combatting Kleptocracy are key examples of innovative new tools in this arena.

USAID's new Democracy, Human Rights and Governance policy reaffirms the U.S.' commitment to advancing the footprint of democracy worldwide and charts a new course for reversing two decades of democratic backsliding. NDI looks forward to continuing our close collaboration with USAID and implementing key DRG programs under the purview of this ambitious new framework.

Author: Ellie Solloway, Social Media Strategist at NDI's Government Relations and Communications team

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.