This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Administrator J. Brian Atwood
Democratic Initiatives Project Consultative Committee
Santiago, Dominican Republic, August 5, 1997
U.S. Agency for International Development
It is a pleasure to be here with you today. I would like to
welcome the Consultative Council members of the Democratic
Initiatives project, the many representatives of civil society
organizations that are here today and other distinguished guests.
As some of you may know, democracy and civil society are
issues close to my heart. Before I came to the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), I was director of the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, an
organization working to promote elections and civil society
around the globe.
Personally, I think there are few endeavors that are more
exciting or rewarding than working to give people a greater say
in their own affairs. Around the globe, citizens have proved time
and time again that they are the best engine for development. In
the will of the people, there is a collective wisdom that allows for
far richer social and economic development.
Standing here today, I cannot help but be struck by the
dramatic differences between today and when I first started at
NDI in the 1980s. In the 1980s, we had so many countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean where democracy seemed like
an impossible dream. The Chiles, El Salvadors, and Nicaraguas
far outnumbered the Costa Ricas and the Venezuelas. The
Generals and the Dictators far outnumbered the democratically
elected Presidents and Prime Ministers.
But ten years later, we have seen a remarkable
transformation. The hard work and commitment by all of you,
and by many others, have taken root. Now only Cuba stands in
the hemisphere without elected civilian leaders. And that too
shall change. We have come farther in those ten years than even
the most optimistic could have hoped. Democracy is now the
standard of Latin America, not the exception.
But we can hardly rest on our laurels. As President Carter
once noted, "The experience of democracy is like the experience
of life itself -- always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes
turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by
adversity."
I think all of us could testify as to the occasional -- and
sometimes more than occasional -- turbulence. But amid the
adversity we have always found a great bond between people
working to promote democracy. USAID has enjoyed a very close
and collaborative relationship with the variety of Dominican
institutions working to strengthen democracy in your country, and
those ties have grown stronger over the years.
Our Democratic Initiatives project is the flagship project
within our democracy program in the Dominican Republic. We
are proud that it has met with much success since its inception in
1992. Like any successful endeavor, it has many fathers and
mothers. The program has had a strong participatory character,
both in design and implementation. In fact, the project was
conceived and designed totally by Dominicans, some of who are
present with us today.
The project's implementation is totally in the hands of
Dominican institutions and citizens. Its administration is in the
experienced hands of Pucamaiyma University. Guidance and
decisions are in the hands of the Consultative Council, whose
members, past and present, form a large part of this audience.
By giving civil society institutions the financial resources and
technical assistance that they need, we feel we can help foster a
lasting change in Dominican society.
Clearly, the role of civil society in advancing reform and
modernization of the political and economic systems in the
Dominican Republic are vital. The role of civil society is
mentioned with great frequency here in the press and by political
leaders. Sometimes the role of community groups and non-governmental organizations are lauded, other times it is criticized.
This is probably a good sign you must be doing something right.
In this respect, the Dominican Republic is no exception to
the rest of the world. The role that forces outside of government
should play in strengthening democracy is debated not only in
Latin America, but throughout the world; whether it be an
established democracy in Western Europe or a fledgling
democracy next door in Haiti. Just look at the aspiring
democracies of the African continent, and especially of Eastern
Europe and the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet
Union, where each day is a struggle to forge the identity of
community in relation to democracy, of the openness of basic
systems and the role of the individual versus the state.
What is clear is that governments and non-governmental
actors must strike a fair balance, born out of mutual respect.
Governments need to respect the rights of citizens to organize,
and citizens must give their institutions the ability to govern
effectively. Only by working together -- despite the occasional
tensions -- will the will of the people be served. Civil society can
play a key role in public advocacy, policy analysis, mobilizing
constituencies in support of reform and by serving as watchdogs
in assuring accountability.
Groups such as your own can advocate, educate, and
mobilize attention around major public issues and monitor the
conduct and achievements of public officials. Obviously, these
are functions that the press and public figures may not always
enjoy, and that makes them all the more important. But in every
case, you must remember the goal is to make government better,
not to tear down public institutions.
A strong and active civil society fosters three elements
essential for democracy: accountability, participation and
continuing the momentum for political reform. By its very nature,
the concept of good governance requires accountability from
political and bureaucratic institutions. Strong and sustained
pressure by civil society is needed to achieve success in the fight
against corruption in public institutions. Without this pressure, it
is likely that the campaign against corruption would be reduced to
little more than hollow demagoguery.
A well-organized civil society empowers the poor and
enhances their collective voice in the political process. Civil
society organizations serve as educators of citizens regarding their
rights and responsibilities. They motivate citizens to struggle for
the rights that hold the key to a better life.
Admittedly, the best allies of lasting reform of the political
system are often found outside the government. However, one
needs government and civil society working together to achieve
real reform. Nobody should think that civil society is a substitute
for political parties or responsible political leadership. Quite the
contrary. It is not an issue of civil society instead of political
parties; but rather, civil society as a necessary complement to
political parties. Nor would it be correct to think that civil
society is by nature anti-government.
To be true to the ideals they profess, organizations working
in the democracy and governance fields must practice what they
preach. Unfortunately, one frequently finds non-governmental
organizations, foundations, even community groups that are
dominated by an individual or small group of individuals. Some
love democracy in name, but not in practice. That is one of the
reasons why the Democratic Initiatives project has insisted upon
working with groups that practice "internal democracy."
The best testimony to the potential of participatory decision-making is the Consultative Council, which consists of volunteers
from a wide political and social spectrum of society. The
Council has strong rules and norms that assure the renovation of
its membership to avoid one individual or group from becoming
too powerful. There is also a strong code of ethics, including the
open discussion of all topics, together with the attitude of
reaching a decision through the strongest consensus possible.
The administrative institution -- Pucamaiyma -- and the donor
agency -- USAID -- have great respect for these norms and
statutes freely established by the founders of the project. For this
reason, recent evaluators of the project's achievements considered
it to be a virtual laboratory for democracy.
I would be remiss to limit a discussion of civil society to
those groups and institutions that work at the national level.
Democracy means much more than a cause celebre' for the upper
middle classes. Democracy has to allow for the majority of
Dominicans to speak up. This majority, located in the popular
barrios of the large cities and dispersed throughout the country
side, have a different vision from the professionals and academics
of the middle class.
For the poor, the everyday problems of getting by is what
interests them; not highly abstract political theory. To most, the
words "civil society" mean nothing. To ask a man or woman who
is hungry or who has no roof over their head of their opinion of
civil society is to ignore the fact that they are most concerned
with their most pressing needs. The principals of democratic
theory must be translated into everyday language, and we must be
able to show a clear and bright line between democracy and
improving people's standard of living.
The majority of Dominicans are worried about problems at
the local level. They want to participate, but participate in the
solutions to immediate problems that affect their local
communities -- the need for good schools and health centers,
efforts to improve streets and transportation, plans that will get
their families electricity and water, programs that will make it
easier for them to get their goods to market. People want to have
a say in the management of issues they care about. This can only
be achieved if they participate in the decisions of their local
municipalities.
The challenge of democracy in the Dominican Republic, as
in the rest of Latin America, is to decentralize political power.
Not to substitute a national "caudillo" for hundreds of local
"caudillos," but with citizen participation in each and every one
of the municipalities throughout the country. The Democratic
Initiatives project has dedicated 60 percent of its subgrants to
activities that promote this struggle in favor of citizen
participation at the municipal and regional levels. I believe that
the planting of these seeds of democracy throughout the
Dominican Republic will soon bear fruit.
In the post-Cold War world, the landscape is being shaped
by two great ideas: democracy and open markets. As Summit
of Americas in Miami three years ago, and in the recent
gathering in San Jose, we saw an agenda dominated by issues of
good governance and improving relations among neighbors who
often used to be at odds with one another.
We have seen an emerging consensus that is heartening: In
the villages of the Andes and the cities along the Atlantic, people
are coming to view democracy as a necessity, not a luxury. They
are beginning to understand that good governance is not an alien
idea, and that appeals to patriotism are no substitute for
participation and empowerment. A consensus is forming that our
political future, our economic strength, our national vitality, and
our Hemispheric identity will be shaped by the creation of better
more transparent government and meaningful citizenship.
It is precisely the characteristics that make democracy
sometimes noisy and unsettling that also give it such vitality and
flexibility. By hammering out our differences openly, we almost
always arrive at decisions that better serve us all. By being
inclusive and viewing political adversaries as competitors -- not as
enemies -- we are helping build the Americas into hemispheres
that will be a model for the world.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 18, 2001
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