Jan Hornat: Transatlantic Democracy Assistance. Promoting Different Models of Democracy.

1st edition. London: Routledge, 2018, 216 pages. ISBN: 978-1-138-35087-8 (IIR library code 62 659).

  • Veronika Bílková
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32422/mv.1605

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

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).

 

The Cover of 54/2/2019
Issue
Vol 54 No 2 (2019)
Section
Book Reviews
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