The impact of U.S. democracy and governance assistance in Africa: Benin case study

This paper examines what effect, positive or negative, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) support has had on democratic development in Benin, a key country in the development of democracy in Africa. The paper also presents some thoughts on broader issues concerning the efficacy of democracy assistance. The paper examines USAID efforts to promote democracy in Benin in the rule of law, civil society, elections and political processes, and governance sub-sectors of democracy assistance.The challenge of extrapolating conclusions too broadly from one case study is clear. This paper does conclude, however, that a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of U.S. democracy/governance assistance to Benin is in line with other assessments which find that such assistance can be helpful in supporting indigenous moves towards democratic development and consolidation. A secondary conclusion is that reliance solely on USAID’s evaluation of its own activities is not sufficient to produce a clear picture.No information is found which would suggest that USAID’s efforts have distorted or impeded Benin’s democratic development in any significant fashion. Beyond this, it appears that some assistance has been useful, while other elements have not resulted in much impact, negative or positive. Causal relationship can definitely either be demonstrated or at least inferred in certain situations, such as in the civil society sector. In other cases claims of impact made by USAID may be valid, but would require additional verification. Overall, however, this paper finds that, far from being the efforts of “white-coated international mad scientists,” U.S. democracy and governance assistance efforts in Benin have avoided doing harm and some, in fact, have had a positive impact. The level of impact can best be described as supportive rather than leading the process of democratic development.