The relationship between promoting democracy and strengthening good governance is unusually complex. On the one hand, they are closely interrelated tasks, with important shared objectives such as accountability and fairness. Yet on the other hand, they remain distinct endeavors in many parts of the donor community and often entail quite different activities. What is the most useful way to think about or define the relationship between these two domains and what are the implications for practice in both the development and democracy arenas?
Thomas Carothers, the seminar presenter, is a leading authority on democracy promotion and democratization worldwide as well as an expert on U.S. foreign policy generally. He is the founder and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Project which analyzes the state of democracy in the world and the efforts by the United States and other countries to promote democracy. He is an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and serves on the board of various organizations devoted to democracy promotion. Prior to joining the Endowment, Carothers practiced international and financial law at Arnold & Porter and served as an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. He holds A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University and a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics.