Another useful democracy-boosting device, which a score of African countries have agreed to adopt, is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, whereby governments and big companies with which they do business publish details of their dealings.There is a long way to go before all the rest of Africa follows Botswana's example.
A fundamental issue raised by the book is this: Is United States government assistance to promote democracy useful?
IN theory, e-mail should be a useful tool for democracy, an easy and prompt way for citizens to reach their representatives.
After the 1948 election debacle, he blithely declared, "We are continually experimenting and continually learning," and he contended that the public opinion poll was "one of the most useful instruments of democracy ever devised".
"The Bavarian government has tried to erase the physical memories," Mr. Dürr said, "and if you want the Nazi regime to be useful for our democracy now, you have to have the physical traces.
Findings show that adopting international law is a useful strategy for democracies to lock in particular policies, encourage trust in governments and state regimes, and bolster global reputations.
Mischief can be a useful thing for a democracy.
In his view, American calls for democratic change in the Muslim world were useful for the Iranian democracy movement, but he had no illusions about their sincerity.
For this understanding of political representation (specifically, its demarcation from participatory democracy) was useful for distinguishing Western democracies from Communist countries.
The patina of democracy was a useful thing for the ruling mullahs, and riot police can't make Iran's economic problems go away.
