EP 16 - Erin Snider: Marketing Democracy: The Political Economy of Democracy Aid in the Middle East

Tahrir Podcast - بودكاست التحرير

Dr. Erin A. Snider is an assistant professor in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University.

Dr. Snider’s most recent book, “Marketing Democracy: The Political Economy of Democracy Aid in the Middle East,” (Cambridge University Press, 2022) examines the construction and practice of democracy aid in Washington DC and in Egypt and Morocco, two of the highest recipients of US democracy aid in the region. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, novel new data on the professional histories of democracy promoters, archival research and recently declassified government documents, Dr. Snider focuses on the voices and practices of those engaged in democracy work over the last three decades to offer a new framework for understanding the political economy of democracy aid. Her research shows how democracy aid can work to strengthen rather than challenge authoritarian regimes. Marketing Democracy fundamentally challenges scholars to rethink how we study democracy aid and how the ideas of democracy that underlie democracy programs come to reflect the views of donors and recipient regimes rather than indigenous demand.

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