ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes some of the principal lessons of experience, by reviewing a selection of major issues and themes. It compares the strengths and weaknesses of three main approaches the international community can take regarding democracy promotion: via economic relations, via the state, and via civil society. Although for all three approaches the relevant question is not about whether it should be employed, but instead how, when, and where to do it; there are reservations in each case. Democracy promoters who are on the front line too face equally tricky dilemmas such as how to select suitable partners from among the limited alternatives available, what kind of support to provide, what is meant by effective support, and how to measure it. Democratization is easier if a society is already half way there than if it is just approaching the starting line. But the scope for slipping back is also greater, and efforts to prevent that from happening are certainly worthwhile.
