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Contributions from
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Tribune
Political foundations: promoting democracy
Opium: A triumph of sorts in Thailand
“Khadidja proposed marriage to Mohamad”
07/2005
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[ Promoting democracy ]
It all depends on values
For decades, the political foundations in Germany have proven to be partners that help build democratic structures in foreign countries where civil wars or dictatorships have come to an end. Most important, they do not try to be impartial in institution-building, but cooperate closely with partners who share similar world views. Owing to their clear party-political orientation, they are in a position to engage in ideological discourse internationally without calling the respective national sovereignty into question. The German model of political foundations could and should become an international model.
[ By Werner Böhler ]
Various organisations for the promotion of democracy have emerged at an international level in recent years, including the World Movement for Democracy (WMD), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Institute for Multiparty Development (IMD) and the Non-Governmental Process for the Community of Democracies. These organisations, which frequently have considerable funds at their disposal, claim that their promotion of democracy is universal. They refer to their non-party character, their internationality and neutrality of interests. These organisations are predominantly financed from multilateral sources or by private donors.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation rejects this type of “neutral” or “technical” promotion of democracy and does not take part in it. From the Foundation’s point of view, democracy can only be obtained with a reference to values, since it requires legitimation through elections in a system of competing parties. This requires the political education for the population, which cannot be impartial. The parties are the institutions that define the values and programmes. Therefore, the German political foundations support the formation of transnational communities of foundations within the respective political families in order to convey the idea that democratic systems are closely bound to values.
The political foundations are a distinctive feature of German development policy. Closely linked to political parties, the foundations promote democracy worldwide – persistently and with a long-term focus. No other country has institutions comparable to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Christian democrats), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Social democrats), the Heinrich Böll Foundation (Greens), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Liberals) or the Hanns Seidel Foundation (Bavarian Christian Social Union). They play an indispensable role for German foreign relations, whereby they are led by the conviction that democracy cannot be (violently) “implanted”.
Typical characteristics
The German Development Ministry has supported the international work of the party-affiliated foundations financially since 1962. The aid Germany received after the war, which was an integral part of Germany’s economical recovery and integration into the western world, committed the young Federal Republic towards the international community. Back then, West Germany looked back at the recent experiences of re-democratisation within an efficient economic system that aimed at social reconciliation. Important characteristic elements of the new democratic state included party-political pluralism and the representative parliamentary system. This experience shaped the work of the foundations and was the basis for their integration into development policy.
The fundamental characteristics which differentiate the political foundations from other development organisations are
– the affiliation to parties, even though they are independent on them for finance or personnel,
– their ideological orientation towards the party’s world-view,
– their global presence with the objective of creating networks between civil society organisations and
– the focus on political dialogue with the elite abroad.
Furthermore, although it is typical for political foundations that their development cooperation is supported by public funding, they act independently of government because their affiliation to the established parliamentary parties ensures they are heard by incumbent ministers.
Initially, the political foundations’ budgets for individual international projects amounted to just tens of thousands of German marks. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), for example, established contacts with political partners in Venezuela and Chile, in particular to Christian-democratic parties and trade unions. Later, individual measures were integrated into strategically designed programmes that were geared towards the principal objective of promoting democracy. From then on, the focus lay on stabilising and strengthening the political system in terms of functioning pluralism and parliamentarism. Topics of political dialogue include the legal, economic and social systems, the role of the media, the political participation of minorities, legitimation through free and equal elections, regional integration and global governance. The development funds of the KAS now amount to 56 million EUR annually – the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), which is of similar size, achieves a comparable level.
Today, the political foundations have country programmes, regional programmes and regional sector programmes. Some worldwide programmes have also emerged, which address global challenges such as the environment and conservation of Creation, crisis prevention and international terrorism, values and dialogue with and between religions, or global governance. The presence of the foundations in Brussels, Washington, New York, Geneva and other internationally significant metropolises prove to be helpful in this regard. Study and information programmes, international symposia and congresses, exchange between experts and scholarship programmes complete the range of instruments.
Success stories
The programmes run by the political foundations are designed on a long-term basis and are not subjected to short-term pressure to succeed. This leads to a high level of continuity and creates a basis of trust, which enables the exertion of a moderating influence in sensitive situations. Under complex, opaque circumstances, the foundations can act as gate keepers or even ice breakers. Cooperation based on values due to agreement on a party-political level helps to formulate common positions in the area of basic values. In critical situations this contributes to being able to work out in smaller circles possible solutions on a lower level than official governmental actions.
The following examples illustrate the successful work carried out by the political foundations:
– The removal of the military dictatorship in Chile in 1988 was preceded by a long-term preparation of the deciding referendum. Through their offices and representatives in the country, German foundations cooperated with the opposition parties and civil society organisations. Scholarship programmes were used to help individuals in danger leave the country and to systematically prepare them to assume political responsibility as future members of the elite. Thus a likely vacuum after the successful referendum was avoided. Instead, a stable government was formed, initially based on a coalition of parties under a Christian-democratic leadership and today under a social-democratic president.
– The constitutional process that started in South Africa in 1990 was crucial for the peaceful transition from the apartheid regime to a government based on the black majority of the population. A social contract that would be accepted by all sections of the population – including the different black ethnic groups – was necessary. The established KAS contacts to the Inkatha movement and the year-long cooperation of FES with the ANC made possible a moderating and constructive exertion of influence on both sides.
– The significant role the political foundations played in the political change in Spain and Portugal in the 1970s is still acknowledged by the European partners today. The contribution to the peace processes in the Central American countries with the objective of reducing conflict and establishing peace is equally uncontentious.
Currently, the example of Zimbabwe underlines the importance of the foundations. Official bilateral development cooperation with the repressive Mugabe regime has become almost impossible. Via their networks with opposition parties and civil society organisations, however, the political foundations can continue to make an impact in places where state implementing institutions are no longer able to act.
Political foundations were even able to remain active in countries like Iran, where the state implementing institutions cut back or even stopped their work as a result of the ministry concentrating on focus countries, amongst other factors. However, the concern is for key countries, to which the foundations attribute a central function in the development of their respective region. Therefore, the German Development Ministry’s anchor country concept is rated positively by the foundations (Wieczorek-Zeul, 2005). They support the concept’s political claim of also influencing policy development in middle-income countries.
The collapse of the Soviet regime presented the political foundations with new, unfamiliar challenges. The experiences from the developing countries certainly helped. However, it was not possible to simply transfer successful programmes to a collapsed global power and its former satellite states. Since then, the former process of “muddling through” has developed into strategic country programmes. Actually, the eight countries that have since joined the EU are facing other problems than the countries of South East Europe or the countries of the Community of Independent States. Meanwhile, the contrasting situations in Belarus and the Ukraine clearly show that the promotion of democracy remains a hot topic. The political foundations continue to play their special role which has been tried and tested throughout history.
Dr. Werner Böhler
works for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation as head of the Latin America regional team and deputy head of International Cooperation.
werner.boehler@kas.de
Reference:
Wieczorek-Zeul, Heidemarie, 2005:
Partners in global development, E+Z/D+C 2005:5, pp 205-206
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