Let's Hear It For The Lawyers Posted by Michael Cohen

In the past week a really important story emerged out of Pakistan; the peaceful reinstatement of the Chief Justice of the country's Supreme Court Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

Chaudhry had been removed two years ago by then-President Musharraf; and while President Zardari had pledged to reinstate him, for more than a year he dragged his feet. But after peaceful street protests, Zardari was finally forced to return Chaudhry to the Court.

There are many reasons why this is a critically important step for democracy in Pakistan. The group that spearheaded the protests was the same independent lawyer's movement that has been one of the strongest non-Islamic civil society voices in the country. It is one observer put it "perhaps the only liberal, modernist, utterly non-violent, peaceful, tolerant, democratic, plural and hugely popular movement in the history of the entire Islamic world." (H/T to Mike Allen at NED and his excellent Democracy Digest blog)

There is an important lesson here for US policymakers; if they want to get serious about promoting democracy stop looking to the leaders that they think are protecting our interests and instead focus their energy on the civil society voices that are fighting the good fight for democracy. For years, we pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan and propped up President Musharraf with little return on our investment. Pakistan is in an arguably more fragile state now than it was then; Al Qaeda in Pakistan is stronger not weaker and our influence in the country has actually diminished.

Our support for Pakistan and particularly Musharraf in the wake of September 11th reflected short-term strategic thinking; and perhaps in the short-term there might have been some logic to it. But over the long-term relying on benevolent dictators or even benevolent democrats is not a road map for democratic outcomes - supporting local civil society actors and other private groups that are advocating for democratic reform and providing the technical assistance that leads to the establishment of democratic institutions is a far wiser course of action.

Over at Foreign Policy, Dan Twining makes the right point: "U.S. policy toward Pakistan, including assistance programs, should focus on strengthening Pakistan's civic institutions, particularly the educational and judicial systems, to empower the country's moderate majority. It constitutes a better bulwark against Talibanization than any officer with stars on his shoulders."

And we have the tools in our arsenal to do this - there is the National Endowment for Democracy, there is the UN Democracy Fund and there is the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which arguably could be doing more to support local actors, but does have in place a smart NGO consultative element. But above all what is needed is a better understanding, in policy circles, of what drives democratic outcomes; an empowered and energized citizenry and institutions not individuals.

Rhetorically, the Bush Administration voiced these words, but in practice, they tended to rely on individuals and not institutions to shepherd democratic outcomes. And it wasn't completely about supporting bad leaders; there was also the frustrating tendency to look to leaders we think are on our side and assume they have the best democratic intentions in mind. American democracy provides a good example, George Washington may have been a great first president, but the sustainability of American democracy came not from his leadership, but from the Constitution and the democratic institutions established in the wake of independence.

After 25 years of the institutionalization of democracy promotion in USFP we have a far better sense of what works and what doesn't. What happened this week in Pakistan is a good example of what works and who are the key actors in driving democratic outcomes. I hope that folks are paying attention at Foggy Bottom and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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So, like...lawyers actually did some good for once? Wow, that's so weird.