Thinking Democratically: A Comprehensive Approach to Countering and Preventing Shrinking Space

with a tenuous relationship with civil society negatively impacted civil society’s ability to defend
democratic space.
What is clear is that where European donors were unable to defend democratic space, it was because
other interests were prioritised over the defense of democratic space, and that European donors lack
a common approach to identifying and countering attacks on democratic space. This is reflected in
the predominantly technical – rather than political – response to closing democratic space. The
reduction in funding at a time of closing democratic space and the shift away from support to
advocacy activities towards government-led agendas is testament to this more technical response. In
cases where political pressure could have made a difference – as in Guatemala when the US left a
vacuum for defending the CICIG – European donors failed to use their political weight to successfully
defend democratic space. A careful wait-and-see approach and reengagement agenda with an
authoritarian government – as in the case of Zimbabwe – does not adapt well to the gradual erosive
effects of closing democratic space. Particularly in the face of an increasingly assertive China and
Russia, European donors need to proactively defend democratic space in a political manner, using all
political tools at their disposal.
The exception to these trends among European donors has been Sweden, who launched a ‘drive for
democracy’ initiative in 2019 to strengthen Sweden’s work on promoting democratic space. Sweden
has long embraced an approach to closing space as one of democratic space, which includes but goes
beyond the notion of civic space. An essential component of the ‘drive for democracy’ is the
increased support for ‘voice-bearers’ to advocate for inclusive policy, including civil society
organisations, as well as human rights defenders, political parties, research institutions, and networkbased
movements and associations. 72 This model of engagement with civil society has been unique,
with flexible 5-year agreement periods and core funding as a default mechanism of support. 73 The
Swedish approach to closing space offers an practical and coherent model for a potential European
approach to democratic space.
72
Sida (2020): Written communication: Sida’s work with democracy in development cooperation.
73
Presentation by Karin Fällman, SIDA. 4 March 2020, Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, Brussels.
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