Does regime type matter for the impact of democracy aid on democracy?

Abstract

During the last decades democracy aid, which aims at fostering democracy in aid recipient countries, has become a popular type of foreign aid among major donor countries. This article asks whether the effect of democracy aid differs between different types of authoritarian regimes. According to previous research the rulers' risk of losing power varies among types of regimes. Theoretically, we may assume that when the risk of losing power is low, authoritarian rulers tend to be more willing to accept democracy aid, given the other benefits that foreign aid could bring to the ruler. In addition, it is also easier to implement democracy aid projects where certain political institutions are in place. The theoretical argument is tested using time series cross-section analysis on a global data set covering 143 aid-receiving countries from 1990 to 2007. The results show that the impact of democracy aid differs between different types of authoritarian regimes. Democracy aid has a positive impact on democracy levels in the most stable types of authoritarian regimes where political institutions are also in place, that is, one-party regimes.