Erziehung zur Demokratie? Amerikanische Politik und soziokulturelle Realität in Bulgarien nach 1990
Education for Democracy? American Politics and Socio-Cultural Reality in Bulgaria after 1990

Summary/Abstract: After the end of socialism, international actors such as the IMF or the EU as well as individual governments implemented ambitious programs to help the post-communist countries in their transition to democracy and market economy. Although such processes taking place in different historical periods and countries are hardly comparable there is a strong belief, particularly in the USA, that the successful democratization of Germany after 1945 can serve as a global model, i.e., that democracy can be installed in all socio-cultural contexts by means of external aid. The paper focuses on American “democracy promotion” in post-socialist Bulgaria where the US government and private organizations aimed at not only democratizing the political system but also at “changing values and habits absorbed by the Bulgarian people over generations” through “education for democracy”. The empirical study of three institutions involved in the education for democracy and funded largely by US money revealed that American donors promoting democracy abroad indeed tend to impose their own models and not to take into account the socio-cultural realities of the recipient country. By not acknowledging the fact that Bulgarian institutions – and society in general – function according to local rules, norms, and traditions (such as the great importance of kinship networks, clientelism, and systemic distrust) the long-term impact of the “education for democracy” has been relatively low. In order to be effective, democratization aid has to be adjusted to the specific conditions of the country.

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