What is the role of international organizations in promoting democracy?

Essential principles of democracy are rule of law and fundamental rights which are also codified in international laws and standards. When international firms operate in countries whose governments respect neither, they run the risk of being called out by any number of international and local actors for violating treaties and trade rules, as well and their own company charters. That in turn, can set off shareholder rights, ESG, financing and national security liabilities.

International Law is the vanishing point in Jurisprudence - Holland Accordingly, amongst the most effective tools in ensuring compliance of Jus Cogen’s is ‘naming and shaming’, and IO s provides such platform for such actions by the interpretive community.

Beyond just supporting democracy which itself can be a contested concept, I suggest international organizations must use all their efforts to promote and seek ways to protect the rule of law in all countries. This can be as non-ideological as helping to fight corruption, promote the independence of the judiciary and help to create oversight agencies that can combat the excesses of the political leaders.

International organisations have a major role to play in protecting and promoting those institutions that are the foundations of democracy: - independent judiciary - free press, that reports facts, not only opinions - discourages lobbying / funding politicians for self interest - calls out wrong doing or challenges government when doing wrong Democracy is under threat from various actors, promoting fake information and business must not turn a blind eye. Never again, can we say business is separate from democracy: otherwise we all loose.

International organizations can only promote democracy if their founding documents empower them to do so, to the extent allowed by the founders. Democracy is a broad concept, but its application is local. What it means to different people and countries vary. Thus, there cannot be a carte blanche way to promote universal democracy. International organizations may support on specific topics and issues on the democracy continuum as required and demanded by country actors, state and non state. An effective way is to use international law and framework mechanisms signed up to by countries to advance democracy, based on exactly what those countries signed up for, like the provisions of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Many international organizations usually dole out money to governments and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) without monitoring how such funds are utilized. Unfortunately, some government officials instead of using such funds to advance democracy usually end up siphoning the money into their personal account, a situation that defeats the reason why the funds were sent in the first place.

IOs provide the platform for different perspectives to be brought for consideration of the Interpretive community in garnering support for the righteous course of action; as leaders are mindful that they need to exist as a part of international community, they respond to views of such thought leaders and engage in corrective actions, and thus IOs act as ‘levelers’

The founding document of these Organizations based on Democracy and on Democratic Rules. Although International Organizatios due to the complex structure could phase challenges on financial matters and spending. But their activities are very focus and never violate their constitution or their procedures. Especially on humanitarian cases are very dedicated for helping or solving the relevant problems.

Coming from Africa and Nigeria to be precise and considering the outcome of the last elections and the behavior of international organizations, I see democracy as tool of manipulation, control and exploit of third world countries. It is a bargaining chip by world leaders who support electoral manipulations and rigging to advance their interest at the expense of the citizens and wellbeing of the developing countries.

The UN is supposed to be the most important and powerful international organization to worship, defend, and carry out the “Democracy” values and Regime! However, because the western freedom world elites/leaders don’t understand the soul of the democratic regimes is “ Truth/Freedom=Wisdom=Talent+Virtues, but not the shape of “Vote”, so they made the UN actually become the most powerful international organization for the global dictators to defend dictatorship regime! Without Freedom/Truth, the vote democracy=political Fraud! Democracy=Freedom=Defend the Truth! =Eliminate the Political scams! Freedom doesn’t mean freely scam people by the name of “Freedom” ! Democracy doesn’t mean defend Dictators’ privileges by the name of democracy!

1. Promoting democracy: International organizations foster democratic principles, monitor elections (e.g., OSCE), and defend democratic values (e.g., EU sanctions). 2. Supporting transitions: International groups provide financial aid and expertise for building democratic institutions (e.g., USAID). 3. Cross-border collaboration: These organizations enable democracies to cooperate on trade, security, and environmental issues, strengthening their resilience.

From what I have seen in my role as Spokesperson for Democratic Governance in South America for the current Summit of the Americas (SOTA) cycle, the challenge is that Member States themselves have a backslide in democracy, and, consequently, they are reluctant to sign pacts that protect the rights of civil society organizations (CSOs). There was not one mention of that in the Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance signed in Los Angeles on 9 June 2022.

Not having enough honest citizens of member nations working for international organisations is an albatross to the advancement of democracy in some countries. From the recruitment of staff which is flawed by too much emphasis on academic details and experience to job racketeering which has lately bedevilled employment processes in international organizations, one would say these organizations are only having motion without movement in Africa as they struggle to attain their lofty ambitions. One would suggest that a more purposeful recruitment process hinged on character and value should be adopted for international organizations to enable them make headway in terms of advancement of democracy in the grassroots.

The biggest challenge is the lack of trust behind the intent of promoting democracy around the globe. It is due to the inconsistent track record of the successful western democracies. They prefer to deal with certain dictators instead of the elected representatives of the people. They are known for demonstrating hypocritical attitude toward setting up democracies in certain parts of the world, while pushing and supporting it in other parts. They cite their country's strategic interests for violating their democratic ideals and principles.

1. Authoritarian populism rise: Global surge in authoritarian populism poses challenges for IOs due to hostility towards democracy and human rights. 2. Non-state actors' influence: Terrorist groups and multinational corporations' growing role in global affairs complicates IOs' democracy promotion efforts, as they don't adhere to state norms. 3. Complex global challenges: Transnational issues like climate change and economic inequality make it tough for IOs to formulate effective responses.

Private parties are considered as important contributors to Global harmony and partners in meeting the SDGs - their investments create jobs which help in alleviation of poverty, amongst others. I participate in such capacity as also help in sharing my views are a thought leader at various platforms provided by IOs.

There are many ways to do this, such as: 1. Volunteering with a local organization that works on democracy promotion 2. Registering to vote and encouraging others to do the same 3. Contacting your elected representatives about democracy issues 4. Educating yourself and others about democracy 5. Standing up for democratic principles and values

Though IOs "strive" to support democracy, they often fail. Why is that? 1. Neo-liberal strings-attached policies, eroding sovereignty. 2. Highly conditional funding administrated by entities oblivious to on-the-ground contexts. 3. "Pragmatic" approaches to transitional democracy often sacrifices the very foundations upon which a resilient institution can be built, which encourages bad actors take advantage of this meta-game of politics, taking up the space in negotiating tables, eventually marginalizing authentic voices of reason and democracy. To conclude, global bureaucracy is set up to incentivize IOs to be concerned about the optics of democratic governance rather than supporting truly representative and just systems.

There is an inherent problem in the question itself. Democracy is an overly broad term which encompasses too many forms of government. John Adams wrote to John Taylor in 1814, "Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide." The American system of Representative Democracy within a Constitutional Republic, for example, codifies a limited number of inalienable individual and local rights in our Bill of Rights, whereas many other forms of modern democracies extend the number of individual rights to such an extend that the more basic rights are made meaningless. Too many international organizations fail to see this, among other problems.

International organisations have access to a lot of resources that can not only fund activities that promote democracy but also influence revolutions in the event that a particular leader becomes a tyrant or despot. Further, international organisations develop principles that have the power to influence democratic policies across the world. Further, by spreading throughout the world, countries that do not practice principles of democracy would feel left out hence the role of international organisations in promoting peace and co-operation which is a key factor in democracies.