INFLUENCING DEMOCRACY - The importance of contextual factors for UN peacekeeping missions in post-conflict states

Abstract

Achieving peace and democracy is a declared goal for the United Nations (UN). It is a difficult task concerning the current increase of conflicts and international political challenges. One of the UN’s tools to contribute to peace and democracy worldwide is peacekeeping missions. However, the opinions regarding these missions’ effectiveness and influence on democracy vary. Therefor, this thesis explores the relationship between the presence of UN peacekeeping missions and democracy promotion. It examines the impact contextual factors have on this relationship by using the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) data. This data, combined with other sources, allows for empirical analysis of the development of democracy. The regression analysis conducted in this thesis covers all 28 UN peacekeeping missions deployed following intra state conflicts. The empirical findings suggest that the longer a peacekeeping mission is active in a state, the higher the level of democracy is during and after peacekeeping missions. Also, the distribution of power between social groups and the previous presence of peacekeeping missions are identified to have a significant impact on the democratization in the host states. However, no statistical significance is found for a negative impact on the level of democracy in countries with a high level of natural resources. To more carefully explore the relationship between UN peacekeeping mission and democracy, a case study of the UNTAG peacekeeping mission in Namibia is performed. The study indicates that the peacekeeping mission contributed to democratization by amongst other creating stability, enabling and monitoring an election and spreading information.