Abstract
Debates about states’ inclusion and exclusion dominated media headlines around the 2021 Summit for Democracy and the 2022 Summit of the Americas. By limiting invitations to “democracies,” the United States aimed to “build a shared foundation for global democratic renewal,” yet its exclusive approach sparked criticism from democratic and non-democratic states alike. Considerably less academic and policy attention has been given to inclusive approaches to multilateral democracy cooperation. This chapter first discusses the significance and limitations of such approaches in the context of a changing international order. With examples from the United Nations system and other international organizations, it considers some prospects and ideas for Canada’s multilateral cooperation related to democratic governance, including expanding cross-regional platforms for exchanging practices and innovations, reframing, and connecting with other salient concepts and multilateral agendas to resonate in the challenging current normative environment.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
See, for example, Kevin Liptak, “Snubs from Key Leaders at Summit of the Americas reveal Biden’s Struggle to assert US leadership in its Neighborhood,” CNN, June 8, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/politics/summit-of-the-americas-joe-biden/index.html.
- 2.
Video recordings of leaders’ speeches at the 2022 Summit of the Americas are available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKYt4ZTAIMs&list=PLttPZGCY6Nq87YgpPZzBwT9wrY8sa1_3O&index=10, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMfbbGZLkRs&list=PLttPZGCY6Nq87YgpPZzBwT9wrY8sa1_3O&index=20
- 3.
Maxwell Cameron, The Americas after American Hegemony, Open Canada Podcast #11 with Ben Rowswell, August 9, 2022. https://opencanada.libsyn.com/11-the-americas-after-american-hegemony-with-maxwell-cameron
- 4.
Citations were transcribed from the recorded speeches available at the links provided in Footnote 2.
- 5.
Matt Spetalnick and Dave Graham. June 7, 2022 “U.S. bars Cuba, Venezuela from Americas summit; Mexican leader sits out.” https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-excludes-cuba-venezuela-nicaragua-americas-summit-sources-2022-06-06/ (last accessed 2/2023).
- 6.
Citations were transcribed from the recorded speeches, see Footnote 2.
- 7.
Inclusiveness refers here to transcending a particular basis of social stratification in a given multilateral venue, in this case across states with democratic and authoritarian regimes.
- 8.
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 1993, Part 1, ¶8.
- 9.
- 10.
https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2021/12/09/prime-ministers-remarks-summit-democracy. December 9, 2021. Prime Minister's Remarks at the Summit for Democracy.
- 11.
Author’s interview with Senior IO representative, 10 November 2022, via Zoom.
- 12.
Speeches available at the link at Footnote 2.
- 13.
Kofi Annan (Dec. 6, 2016): Democracy Under Pressure, New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/opinion/democracy-under-pressure.html (last accessed 3/2023).
- 14.
- 15.
See the UN’s home page and statement: “Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet,” https://www.un.org/en/about-us.
- 16.
- 17.
https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/ODA-2021-summary.pdf. OECD, 2022. ODA Levels in 2021 - Preliminary Data, p. 3.
- 18.
p. 31. See Footnote 15.
- 19.
Author’s interview with Senior IO representative, 10 November 2022, via Zoom.
- 20.
Voting record search, UNBISnet.org.
- 21.
A recorded vote was requested by the Russian Federation in 2015 and 2017. In 2015, it was adopted by 155 votes to 0, with 15 abstentions (A/C.3/70/SR.48, pgs. 7–8). In 2017, it was adopted by 148 votes to 0 with 14 abstentions (A/C.3/72/SR.44, p. 13).
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
Author’s interview with Senior IO representative, 10 November 2022, via Zoom.
- 25.
See, for example, International IDEA's work on monitoring the Summit for Democracy commitments: https://summitfordemocracyresources.eu/commitment-dashboard/ (last accessed 3/2023).
- 26.
Canada’s first VNR in 2018 is available here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/20312Canada_ENGLISH_18122_Canadas_Voluntary_National_ReviewENv7.pdf VNRs of all countries can be accessed at: https://hlpf.un.org/countries (last accessed 3/2023).
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
References
Bardall, Gabrielle. 2023. Feminism and International Democracy Assistance (this volume). In Canada Among Nations, ed. Maxwell Cameron, David Carment, and David Gillies.
Bridoux, Jeff, Christopher Hobson, and Milja Kurki. 2012. Rethinking Democracy Support. United Nations University Press. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/7877.
Bukovansky, Mlada. 2007. Liberal States, International Order, and Legitimacy: An Appeal for Persuasion Over Prescription. International Politics 44: 175–193.
Carment, David, and Yiagadeesen Samy. 2016. Canada’s Fragile States Policy: What Have We Accomplished and Where Do We Go from Here? In Rethinking Canadian Aid, Second Edition, ed. Stephen Brown, Molly den Heyer, and David R. Black. Chapter XIII. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
Carothers, Thomas. 2016a. Closing Space for International Democracy and Human Rights Support. Journal of Human Rights Practice 8: 358–377.
Carothers, Thomas. 2016b. Look Homeward, Democracy Promoter. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/publications/?fa=62604
Chesterman, Simon. 2004. Building Democracy Through Benevolent Autocracy: Consultation and Accountability in UN Transitional Administrations. Chapter 4 in The UN Role in Promoting Democracy: Between Ideals and Reality, ed. Edward Newman and Roland Rich. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
Clark, Ian. 2005. Legitimacy in International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Claude, Inis L., Jr. 1966. Collective Legitimization as a Political Function of the United Nations. International Organization 20 (3): 367–379.
Cooper, Andrew F., and Thomas Legler. 2006. Intervention Without Intervening? The OAS Defense and Promotion of Democracy in the Americas. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Deng, Yong. 2008. China’s Struggle for Status: The Realignment of International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dumitriu, Petru. 2003. The History and Evolution of the New or Restored Democracies Movement. Paper commissioned for the fifth international conference on new or restored democracies, Mongolia.
Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko, and Thea Smaavik Hegstad. 2019. “Leaving No One Behind” as a Site of Contestation and Reinterpretation. Journal of Globalization and Development 0037: 1–10.
Geis, Anna. 2013. The ‘Concert of Democracies’: Why Some States Are More Equal Than Others. International Politics 50 (2): 257–277.
Gillies, David. 2023. Policy and Practice in Canada’s International Democracy Support (this volume). In Canada Among Nations, ed. Maxwell Cameron, David Carment, and David Gillies.
Hecht, Catherine. 2016. Success After Stalemate? Persistence, Reiteration, and Windows of Opportunity in Multilateral Negotiations. Journal of International Organizations Studies 7 (2): 23–38.
Hecht, Catherine. 2017. Advantages and Disadvantages of Inclusive Multilateral Venues: The Rise and Fall of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on New or Restored Democracies. International Politics 54 (6): 714–728.
Hecht, Catherine. 2021. When Democratic Governance Unites and Divides: Social Status and Contestation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Cooperation and Conflict 56 (1): 44–64.
Holthaus, Leonie, and Michael Christensen. 2022. The Production of North American and German Democracy Promotion Expertise: A Practice Theoretical Analysis. International Studies Perspectives 23: 271–289.
Hurrell, Andrew. 2007. On Global Order: Power, Values, and the Constitution of International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keck, Margaret E., and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Koelble, Thomas A., and Edward Lipuma. 2008. Democratizing Democracy: A Postcolonial Critique of Conventional Approaches to the ‘Measurement of Democracy.’ Democratization 15 (1): 1–28.
Larson, Deborah Welch. 2020. Can China Change the International System? The Role of Moral Leadership. The Chinese Journal of International Politics 13 (2): 163–186.
Larson, Deborah Welch, and Alexei Shevchenko. 2014. Russia Says No: Power, Status and Emotions in Foreign Policy. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 47 (3–4): 269–279.
Larson, Deborah Welch, and Alexei Shevchenko. 2010. ‘Status Seekers:’ Chinese and Russian Responses to U.S. Primacy. International Security 34 (4): 63–95.
Newman, Edward, and Roland Rich. 2004. The UN Role in Promoting Democracy: Between Ideals and Reality: Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
O’Donnell, Guillermo. 1993. On the State, Democratization and some Conceptual Problems: A Latin American View with Glances at some Postcommunist Countries. World Development 21 (8): 1355–1369.
Rich, Roland. 2017. Democracy in Crisis: Why, Where, How to Respond. Boulder: Lynne Reinner.
Steffek, Jens. 2018. Deliberation and Global Governance. In The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory, ed. Chris Brown and Robyn Eckersley. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thomas, Daniel C. 2001. The Helsinki Effect: International Norms, Human Rights and the Demise of Communism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Tsygankov, Andrei P. 2012. Russia and the West from Alexander to Putin: Honor in International Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Viola, Lora Anne. 2020. The Closure of the International System: How International Institutions Create Political Equalities and Hierarchies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Warren, Mark E. 2017. A Problem-Based Approach to Democratic Theory. American Political Science Review 111 (1): 39–53.
Young, Iris Marion. 2000. Inclusion and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Youngs, Richard. 2016. European Liberal Power as a Two-Way Street. Carnegie Europe, May 6. http://carnegieeurope.eu/2016/05/17/european-liberal-power-as-two-way-street/iyco.
Acknowledgements
For their helpful comments and critiques on an earlier version, I would like to thank the editors of this volume, Max Cameron, David Carment, and David Gillies, as well as Leonie Holthaus, Miranda Loli, David Moscrop, Jens Steffek, and Victoria Trifonchovska. Special thanks to Massimo Tommasoli for helpful discussions on the topic in 2019. Responsibility for content and any error rests solely with the author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hecht, C. (2023). Inclusive Approaches to Multilateral Democracy Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities for Canada. In: A. Cameron, M., Gillies, D., Carment, D. (eds) Democracy and Foreign Policy in an Era of Uncertainty. Canada and International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35490-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35490-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-35489-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-35490-8
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)