UN Role Promoting Democracy Between Ideals & Reality

This book considers and questions the modalities, effectiveness and controversies of the UN's work in promoting and assisting democracy. It examines if the UN can help to build the foundations of democracy and whether, as an 'external' actor, it can have a substantive positive impact upon the development of democratic governance inside societies. Drawing upon discourse in political science and international relations, The UN Role in Promoting Democracy explores how the normative ideals of democracy interact with the realities of power in the international arena and in the societies in which the UN works. In so doing, this volume provides a timely analysis of the prospects and limitations of the UN's work in this area, and of the broader field of democracy promotion.