Donor Interests or Developmental Performance? Explaining Sanctions in EU Democracy Promotion in sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates why sanctions are applied unevenly in EU democracy promotion in Africa. Given the increased attention on good performers in development cooperation, we assume that not only strategic allies but also good development performers will be shielded from strong sanctions. This thesis is tested with a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 17 cases of violations of democratic principles and human rights in nine sub-Saharan African countries in 2000-11. The QCA confirms that sanctions are taken in the absence of donor interests and developmental performance, and are not taken in the presence of donor interests and developmental performance.