BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Politics

This thesis examines U.S. democratization efforts in Haiti and Iraq: two instances where the United States used military intervention in its failed attempts to export democracy around the world. If the United States is to continue pursuing democratization, it is necessary for policy makers to modify their practices, as recent attempts have only resulted in failure. Thus, the study of how and why democratization attempts fail is critical in order to minimize the damage created by disastrous attempts at exporting democracy. So, in the Clinton and Bush administration's attempts to implement democracy in Haiti and Iraq, where did the democracy planners go wrong, and how did these mistakes further each country's failure to democratize successfully? Through a careful examination and analysis of the United States' democratization efforts in Haiti and Iraq, this thesis demonstrates that due to an inadequate understanding of universal characteristics of democracy, poor assessments of each country's historical, political, and social contexts as they relate to internal characteristics associated with democracy, and various obstacles to democracy, the Clinton and Bush administrations failed to successfully democratize Haiti and Iraq. Furthermore, these two cases suggest that the very practice of externally motivated and militarily enforced democratization cannot lead to a sustainable democracy.

Committee: Eve Nan Sandberg (Advisor) Subjects: International Relations