International Democracy Aid 30 Years Later

From the mid-1990s to the end of 2024, international democracy aid expanded exponentially in size and sources, embraced more flexible methods for empowering local actors, and incorporated new issue areas. Aid providers adapted as democracy’s ‘third wave’ gave way to sustained democratic recession, but the field’s basic trajectory was largely one of iterative evolution. The return of Donald Trump to the United States (US) presidency, however, has triggered upheaval in the aid world, including the near cessation of US democracy aid. While many non-US actors are still engaged in supporting democracy internationally, their capacity to fill the gaps in leadership and funding left by the US is challenged by domestic pressures of their own. As a result, the future of international democracy aid is deeply uncertain.