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Bang For Our Buck: American Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy, And Democratic Diffusion, Ricardo A. Romero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many scholars have sought to investigate the impact foreign aid has on recipient states. Much of the literature suggests that the strategic linkages of the donor-recipient dyad are key in explaining outcome variance. This paper examines that assumption further by looking at the relationship between US aid outlays and their impact with respect to democracy. Because the diffusion of democratic values has been a pillar of American foreign policy dating back to the Wilson era, one might expect American aid to be linked to good governance. I argue, however, that the national security concerns at the time assistance is disbursed …