The False Promise of International Financial Institutions in Building Stable Democracies in Third World Countries

by Sulimani, Foday

The available literature on the democratic process in third world countries shows that there is a strong correlation between the strength of a country’s economic and social infrastructure and the successful promotion of democratic principles. It is my assumption that democracy can not be established without strong economic and social infrastructures. Furthermore, the current aid programs as operated by international financial institutions (IFIs) like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) give false hope to third world countries that fail to develop sound socioeconomic policies and yet want to establish stable democratic societies. Are neo-liberal policies advocated by international financial institutions necessarily associated with successful democratization? Is a strong economic and social infrastructure a necessary prerequisite in order for neo-liberal policies to be correlated with strong democracies?