THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2026 23 Democratic Elections as a Policy Priority Though democracy promotion became a policy of Western governments following World War II, it wasn’t until the end of the Cold War that it became an explicit American diplomatic and development goal to support democratic institutions and specifically free elections, for their own sake but also to promote longer-term prospects for security, stability, and prosperity. The United States provided substantial support through USAID and other channels to improve electoral processes abroad. American embassy staff often observed elections directly. Until very recently, the United States was for many decades the leading political and financial supporter of civil society actors carrying out election observation domestically and of international institutions doing so on a regional or global scale. What we’ve seen since 2025 is that U.S. diplomatic support for democratic institutions and elections has been deemphasized (to put it mildly). Elections and political participation have disappeared from the State Department’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights, nongovernmental partners have lost U.S. support, and administration officials have endorsed particular right-wing candidates in Europe publicly. Meanwhile, from the 1990s, international election observation gradually evolved into a sophisticated endeavor, as I saw as both a U.S. diplomat and international civil servant observing more than two dozen elections in nearly 20 countries. I worked mainly with the leading organization in this field: the Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The work included observation of some memorable elections: in Ukraine after Russia’s “annexation” of Crimea in 2014, in Russia’s Far East and in Moldova in 2016, in Hungary when Viktor Orbán retained power in 2018, and in Poland when a pro-European coalition replaced the ruling party in 2023. My main takeaway from this experience is that good international observation is a cost-effective and practical tool to foster transparency and promote democratic development that deserves financial and political support from friends of democracy worldwide, not least the government and people of the United States. Though international observation is no substitute for honest and conscientious election administration, robust domestic observation, an independent judiciary, or the fundamental freedoms necessary for voters to make informed choices, international observers’ well-drafted reports and clear public statements can document and disseminate unbiased MARIA CARLUCCIO/THE I SPOT
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