TY - JOUR
T1 - Flexibility versus Inflexibility: discursive discrepancy in US democracy promotion and anti-corruption policies
AU - Bridoux, Jeff
AU - Gebel, Anja
N1 - Bridoux, J., Gebel, A. (2012). Flexibility versus Inflexibility: discursive discrepancy in US democracy promotion and anti-corruption policies. Third World Quarterly, 33 (10), 1945-1963
PY - 2012/11/1
Y1 - 2012/11/1
N2 - This article analyses US discourses on democracy promotion and anti-corruption strategies. The analysis shows that there is a cosmetic agreement in these discourses on notions of the good society that identify democracy as a good thing and corruption as a bad thing. However, despite this agreement, there are differences in the discourses on the measures recommended to promote democracy and fight corruption that may lead to policies and processes pulling in opposite directions. This discrepancy arises, on the one hand, from a mode of operation of democracy promotion that is flexible and adaptable to various contexts and, on the other hand, from the uncompromising and inflexible language of anti-corruption policies that threatens to ‘undo’ what US democracy promotion's rhetoric aims to achieve: ownership and sustainability of democratic reforms through re-empowering the state.
AB - This article analyses US discourses on democracy promotion and anti-corruption strategies. The analysis shows that there is a cosmetic agreement in these discourses on notions of the good society that identify democracy as a good thing and corruption as a bad thing. However, despite this agreement, there are differences in the discourses on the measures recommended to promote democracy and fight corruption that may lead to policies and processes pulling in opposite directions. This discrepancy arises, on the one hand, from a mode of operation of democracy promotion that is flexible and adaptable to various contexts and, on the other hand, from the uncompromising and inflexible language of anti-corruption policies that threatens to ‘undo’ what US democracy promotion's rhetoric aims to achieve: ownership and sustainability of democratic reforms through re-empowering the state.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/13987
U2 - 10.1080/01436597.2012.728323
DO - 10.1080/01436597.2012.728323
M3 - Article
SN - 0143-6597
VL - 33
SP - 1945
EP - 1963
JO - Third World Quarterly
JF - Third World Quarterly
IS - 10
ER -