News
The Netherlands and Democracy Promotion
June 14, 2006. In a chapter in the recently published Survey of European Democracy Promotion Policies (FRIDE, Madrid), Jeroen de Zeeuw argues that in the period 2000-2006, the Netherlands consolidated its position as a strong advocate of democracy and human rights issues. The Netherlands played an active role in international human rights norm-setting and often took the first steps to initiate negotiations over new international human rights laws.
Its development aid programmes included a strong good governance component. However, it is doubtful that such policy concerns have been be translated into a broader or firmly-pursued strategy of democracy promotion. Funding for democracy-related activities remained limited in comparison to other development programmes. There was little evidence of strategic decision-making in this field, absent mechanisms for systematically linking together regular country assessments, democracy programming, ongoing political dialogue and evaluation reporting. Recent speeches by the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation suggest a possible move towards a more outspoken Dutch democracy promotion policy, but the need for a more coherent articulation of such policy remains.