From Our Democracy to Yours

Abstract

The United States has viewed promoting democracy as a longstanding tenet of its foreign policy. This has manifested itself in many ways, including in its foreign aid projects. This thesis sought to better understand what the U.S. did in promoting democracy through its foreign aid. Specifically, it what the U.S. did with its democracy and governance aid to Kenya from 1993 through 2008. It reviewed the scholarly literature to identify recommended best practices and evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of aid.

Having determined what projects were better to support than others, I reviewed documents available from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and assessed what types of projects the U.S. supported. This thesis also reviewed other project data available from USAID to ensure a full picture of U.S. democracy and governance aid to Kenya. Additionally, this thesis reviewed additional outside assessments of Kenya to provide full context for the U.S. aid efforts there.

My research identified three clear trends in U.S. aid to Kenya. First, democracy promotion was a tenet in many USAID projects even beyond those specifically intended to promote democracy. Second, USAID's projects largely conformed to the best practices of the literature. Third, there was a significant increase in aid to Kenya starting in 2001 that largely predated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This provides a basis for further research into the effectiveness of U.S. democracy aid to Kenya.