The Case for Promoting Democracy Through Export Control

Abstract

“Is the Separation of Powers Principle Exportable?” That is the question posed to the contributors to this Symposium. The answer I offer here turns not on abstract principles but on my assessment of the real‐world consequences of exporting the presidential system of separation of powers to other countries. This approach is grounded in the belief that a system of governance should be judged in significant part by how well it serves the best interests of the people whose lives it governs. If fragile democracies that import our system of separation of powers are more likely to collapse as a result, then we should be exceedingly cautious about aggressively exporting our system to those countries.