Multipart thematic paper on multi-stakeholder ... - ISIS Europe

Next, the chapter introduces the operational dimension of democracy and good governance promotion by
discussing policy approaches and instruments with respect to three types of actors – public, private, and civic
– their respective roles and impacts. Such actor-based typology is relevant for the study of MSPs as
partnerships composed by different types of actors. In a separate section we summarise the approach to
democracy promotion that characterises the EU foreign policy specifically.
2.1. Short Historical Overview of Democracy and Good Governance Promotion in the Post-
Cold War Era
The current focus of international community on good governance and the rule of law cannot be understood
outside of the general “democratising turn” in world politics that took place after the end of the Cold War.
More specifically, this “turn” has brought to the policy-making realm a whole new set of normative
concepts, such as participation, democracy, and human rights, along with new approaches to development
and more recently, to post-conflict reconstruction.
Good governance first appeared on the agendas of democratic states as well as big international
organizations such as the UN or the OECD at the end of 1980s – beginning of 1990s as part of the discussion
about transforming international development cooperation. It was recognised that structural adjustment
programmes and the so called Washington Consensus that favoured free market and a minimalist state did
not yield the expected results. Moreover, increasing poverty and underdevelopment were attributed to the
deterioration of public sector, its services, infrastructure, and an overall governance crisis. In parallel to these
important changes in development policies, the end of the Cold War led to the emergence of a new global
order that was characterised by the dismantling of the old bi-polar system and proliferation of formerly
communist states that were moving away from an undemocratic regime towards new arrangements that were
to be defined along the way.
Thus, early 1990s were characterised by increased attention to the public sector management and
promotion of effective government, including promotion of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
In addition to this focus on efficiency and effectiveness of the state, some international organizations, such as
OECD and UNDP, introduced an explicitly political focus on issues such as participation, human rights, and
democratisation, thus, moving towards a broader understanding of good governance as not only effective but
also democratic governance (Howell & Pearce, 2001; Van Rooy, 1998).
Different donors 9 embraced these tendencies in different ways. Back in 1990s the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) described the shift in its programmes to democracy and
civil society promotion as the shift from “supply-side” institutions, such as the judiciary, towards the
“demand side” of political change, thus “placing more emphasis on developing constituencies for change and
9 For overview of EU policies see the last sub-section of this chapter.
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