Strengthening Democracy Promotion

Understanding Conceptions of Democracy and Their Effects Among Arab Publics

This policy brief argues that Arab citizens tend to subscribe to the social democratic tradition, understanding democracy as being more related to economic outcomes, rather than the classic tradition of liberal democracy in America. Second, it demonstrates that, on the individual level, there are important differences in perceptions of existing regimes' levels of democracy. As a result, increasing the likelihood of the success of its democracy promotion efforts requires U.S. administration leaders to consider these differences, recognizing that for many Arab citizens there is more to democratic development than simply holding free and fair elections.