Explaining the Worldwide Spread of the American Rule of Law Assistance

• In Event: The International Diffusion of Law and Policy

Abstract

Over the past three decades more than one hundred developing countries have received rule of law assistance from the American Bar Association, a United States nongovernmental organization, for constitution-making, criminal law reform, and training of legal profession. Why do some developing countries but not others receive rule of law assistance from the American Bar Association especially through its Rule of Law Initiative during the post-Cold War period? Although this question goes to the heart of external democracy promotion and policy diffusion, it has so far escaped analytic attention, not least because the existing literature has concentrated on the promotion of democratic elections by regional intergovernmental organizations or Western governments. This study seeks to fill this important gap in political science. We argue that the onset of the American Bar Association’s rule of law assistance is determined by more than just developing countries’ rule of law needs. Specifically, we claim that other political and strategic factors, especially the American Bar Association’s internal policy priorities and the relationships between the U.S. government and recipient developing countries, also matter systematically. Our theory receives strong support from both statistical analysis and illustrative case studies.

Authors

• Dongwook Kim, The Australian National University

• Paul Nolette, Marquette University