Somewhere between Cheap Talk and Costly Signal: The Impact of U.S. Democracy Assistance on Human Rights and Democratic Governance in Africa between 1990 and 2004

Although the promotion of human rights and democratic governance in U.S. foreign policy became prominent in the post-Cold War era, many scholars criticized that the emphasis of U.S. aid policy on human rights and democratic governance is mostly cheap talk. Does U.S. aid reflect a concern for human rights and democratic governance in Africa? As a foreign policy instrument, does U.S. democracy assistance make a systematic impact on the level of human right and democratic governance of African countries? To address these questions, I examine the empirical link between U.S. aid and democratization of African countries for the years 1989-2004. Focusing on the African region, statistical analyses conducted with Simultaneous Equation model provide clear evidence that democratic performance has been an important determinant of U.S. democracy aid allocation to Africa and democracy assistance make a systematic impact on the level of democratic governance of African countries. However, results demonstrate that even well designed democracy assistance does not have a positive impact on human rights of African countries. U.S. aid fosters illiberal democracy or hybrid regime that lacks full respect for human rights. In other words, U.S. democracy aid with political conditionality may foster a transition to a democracy that is merely procedural, often degrading the level of political disappearance, political imprisonment, extrajudicial killing, and violence.