Payne L. - 2006 - Did the United States Create Democracy in Germany.pdf

Do we know how to promote democracy in a troubled land? Do we have a
set of policies and practices that administrators can take off the shelf, as
it were, and apply in a reasonably straightforward fashion to produce a
lasting democracy?
Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, many commentators and policymakers
seemed to believe that such an established methodology exists. The difficult
experience in that country has somewhat dimmed this confidence, but it has by
no means destroyed it. Many writers continue to speak of nation building as if it
involved a settled technology, like that of building interstate highways. They seem
to believe that nation-building experts can go to any country and, regardless of
its culture and traditions, successfully impose a democracy. What accounts for this
confidence in the efficacy of nation-building expertise?