1 - Introduction: Between Global Norms and Local Translation

Summary

The predominant paradigm in use among practitioners and scholars of democracy-promotion holds that international norms must be at once universal and customized to suit locality. This chapter outlines the ways in which research into norms, peacebuilding, and the promotion of democracy is currently tackling this dual challenge – and where these approaches are falling short. It goes on to present an interactive model of feedback-loops that shows how external norm-promotion affects domestic norm-translation and outlines the book’s main argument. It concludes with a brief description of the study-design and an overview of the book as a whole