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Building 'Low-Intensity' Democracy in Haiti: the OAS Contribution Author(S): Yasmine Shamsie Source: Third World Quarterly, Vol

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Building 'Low-Intensity' Democracy in Haiti: the OAS Contribution Author(S): Yasmine Shamsie Source: Third World Quarterly, Vol Building 'Low-Intensity' Democracy in Haiti: The OAS Contribution Author(s): Yasmine Shamsie Source: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 6 (2004), pp. 1097-1115 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3993753 Accessed: 25/08/2009 23:37 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. 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Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Third World Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org * Carfax Third World Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 1097-1115, 2004 Taylor&FrancisPublishingGroup Building 'low-intensity' democracy in Haiti: the OAS contribution YASMINE SHAMSIE ABSTRACT This article explores the phenomenon of democracy assistance by examining Organizationof American States (oAs) efforts to restore and promote democracy in Haiti between 1990 and 2000. The case study reveals that marked contradictions emerged as the organisation tried to promote a democratic outcome while both supporting and facilitating the workings of a profoundly undemocraticeconomic and trading system. Because the OAS has proclaimed its commitmentto advancing democracy as well as its supportfor economic and trade liberalisation,privatisation of national industries, and a deeper insertion of the region's economies into global markets, it provides an excellent vantage point from which to explore this form of political intervention. The article concludes by reflecting on the recent fall of the country's ill-fated president, Jean-BertrandAristide and, in keeping with the theme of this piece, it examines the role of the OAS and other internationalactors in shaping events leading up to the collapse of his government. Haiti's fledgling democracy was dealt a devastating blow when its president, Jean-BertrandAristide, escaped into exile on 29 February 2004. This is the second time PresidentAristide, the formerpriest turnedpolitician, has had to flee the island nation. The first time was in 1991, just seven months into his term as president,when he was ousted by a military coup. Although armed gangs were able to control a number of Haitian cities before the president's departurethis time, the term 'coup' seems less fitting. Nevertherless,he did not resign entirely of his own volition. Rather,it was a mixtureof political protestsby a determined and intransigentopposition, violent intimidationby gangs of ex-military officers from the country's disbanded army, and unambiguous, and some would say 'strategic', abandonmentby the internationalcommunity that caused the presi- dent to abandonhis office. With an interim governmentnow in place, the country finds itself once more plodding through what Haiti scholar Robert Fatton Jr has so aptly called, its 'unendingtransition to democracy'.' Over the years the internationalcommunity has played an active role in this 'unendingtransition', particularly since the fall of the Duvalier dictatorshipin 1986. Indeed, internationalactors were implicated in the most recent demise of Haitian democracy and are now at the forefrontof efforts to rebuild it. Given this commitment and involvement, it is a fitting YasmineShamsie is in the Departmentof Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada. ISSN 0143-6597 printfISSN 1360-2241 online/04/061097-19 ? 2004 Third World Quarterly DOI: 10.1080/0143659042000256913 1097 YASMINE SHAMSIE moment for key actors (the UN, the Organizationof American States (OAS), and nationalgovernments) to engage in a review and reflectionof their earlierefforts to promote democracy. This article aims to contribute to this undertakingby examining how the hemisphere's political forum, the OAS, sought to promote democracy in Haiti over the course of more than a decade (1986-2000). In addition, and perhapsmore importantlyfor scholars of comparativepolitics, the article draws on this example of OAS efforts to explore the broaderphenomenon of democracy promotion.2 Since the end of the Cold War a great many resources have been devoted to promoting democracy. Indeed, it has been suggested that we are witnessing the most extensive and systematic effort to advance democracy to date by national governments, private foundations, internationalorganisations and non-govern- mental actors.3This paper explores the intensified interest in promotingdemoc- racy, linking this trend to changes in the global economy. It is structuredaround two central arguments. First, I suggest that democracy assistance is firmly embedded within the central dynamic of our era, globalisation, and deeply connected to its economic project, neoliberalism4.Hence an analysis of democ- racy promotion in a particularcountry cannot be separatedfrom the socioeco- nomic restructuringwhich that country is undergoing. Second, I argue that the form of democracybeing advancedis one which complementscurrent processes of economic restructuring.It is a variant of democracy divorced from any empowering notions of social justice and participation,and privileges civil and political rights over social and economic rights. It is an election- and institution- centred view of democracy with a focus on order and stability, the two prerequisitesfor capitalist growth.5 Given that the OAS has proclaimed a renewed commitment to democracy, while simultaneously affirming its strong support for economic and trade liberalisation,privatisation of national industries, and a deeper insertion of the region's economies into global markets, the organisationprovides an excellent vantage point from which to explore the contradictionsinherent in this inter- nationalco-operation agenda.6 Before beginning, it is importantto establish from the outset that dismissing the active role of the OAS in defending democracy in member states, particularlysince 1990, would be a serious error. The organis- ation's commitment to democracy has been expressed through the sanctions, declarationsand resolutionsit has adopted,as well in the mandatesdeveloped at the three presidential Summits of the Americas. The establishment of a unit dedicatedto safeguardingdemocratic institutions and procedures;the creationof a mechanism to respond automaticallyto illegal interruptionsof democracy in any country of the region; an amendmentto the organisation's charter which allows for the suspension of any member state whose democratically elected government is overthrown by force; and, most recently, the creation of an Inter-AmericanDemocratic Charterwhich is viewed as 'a guide for democratic behaviourand a manualof conduct' are all energetic examples of a commitment to collectively defend democracy.7 Nevertheless, without obscuring or minimising the political and diplomatic effort that these gains represent,we cannot ignore the fact that they have been adopted in the context of neoliberal marketreforms and the opening up of the 1098 BUILDING'LOW-INTENSITY' DEMOCRACY IN HAITI hemisphereto free trade.At the same time the autonomyof developing countries dependenton loans from internationalfinancial institutions has been increasingly constrained. Hence, the form of democracy which OAS diplomatic efforts is promotingand safeguardingis one which has been shaped and constrainedto be consistent with the overall export-led development strategy and economic prescriptionsof the World Bank and the course of IMF-imposedrestructuring. Gills, Rocamora, and Wilson have called this form of democracy, prevalent in the Third World today, 'low intensity democracy'.8 This 'lighter' notion of democracy legitimises the status quo, preserving existing economic and social arrangementsand maintaining the existing distributionof power, rather than redistributingit. Hence the terms of the democratictransition are being set by the internationalisedruling elites of the Americas, rather than by those popular sectors who suffered so egregiously in the era of dictatorships. The paper begins with an analysis of the global economic context within which the government of Haiti and outside donors pursued democratisation efforts. This is followed by a discussion of the relevance of post-Washington consensus thinking to democracy assistance programmes. The article then examines how the OAS has affected the course of democratisationin Haiti throughits supportfor three areas:economic policy, institutionbuilding (judicial reform in particular)and civil society. As the article was initially writtenbefore the tragic events of January and February 2004, the paper concludes with a postscript
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