On Economic Sanctions and Democracy - The function of economic sanctions as a tool to promote democratic development

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine if economic sanctions is a useful tool to promote the democratic development of a state. I am interested in exploring the effectiveness of the most common reasons for implementing sanctions; to change specific behavior incompatible with democracy or to incur regime transformation. In order to examine this, we look at the intent of implementing economic sanctions, how democratic development is measured, and the importance of human rights as a part of a democratic state. By applying these findings on opposing versions of modernization theory, I find measurable economic data that I can look at in connection with two case studies. The episodes chosen for the case studies are current sanctions being leveled against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Myanmar. In the case studies themselves, I discover that Iran and Myanmar are very different in both the intentions behind their autocratic regimes, and the results of the sanctions against them. In examining the economic effects, I find it difficult to find data for both cases, and I fail to locate parts of the economic data I intended to look at. In the end, I conclude that while economic sanctions can have some impact on specific goals and the foundation for support of democracy, they are unlikely to be the deciding factor in democratic development.