They say that those who can't do, teach. But apparently no one told Dr. Jennifer McCoy, director of the Carter Center's Americas Program. She's been teaching and doing for more than two decades.
McCoy splits her time between the Center and Georgia State University, where she teaches Latin American politics and comparative democratization to graduate and undergraduate students.
Her dual career provides McCoy with a deep well of knowledge. "Being a professor allows me to look at current issues from a theoretical perspective," she said. "Likewise, working on the ground gives me a unique outlook in the classroom."
Over the years, McCoy has watched the Americas Program grow from hosting conferences on specific topics of regional interest to more recent activities of monitoring elections and tackling democracy-strengthening projects, such as campaign finance reform and access to government information.
The Carter Center's high-profile election-monitoring activities started in the region in 1989, when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter declared the Panama elections fraudulent. Since then, the Center has observed elections in 12 other Western Hemisphere countries.
One of McCoy's most memorable elections was Nicaragua 1990. As a Carter Center field representative, McCoy remembers having a front-row seat to the national elections that had the 10-year rule of the Sandinistas hanging in the balance. "The world was watching," she said. "Election night was a cliffhanger." The opposition won 55 percent of the vote, ending the Sandinista rule.
Today, the Center still observes elections in the region, but has expanded its focus to initiatives that will bring reconciliation to divided countries. "Two decades of democracy and opening markets have brought with them a lot of promises, and expectations have not been met," McCoy said. "Citizens are demanding change through the ballot box."
McCoy says that Latin Americans are becoming frustrated with their governments, demanding change and often electing new independent candidates. Some of these candidates have proposed radical change to redistribute resources, and this has produced backlash and conflict.
"It is essential for transformations to happen in a democratic and peaceful way," said McCoy.
The Center has looked for ways to keep dialogue open in countries undergoing change or civil unrest. Starting in 2002, The Carter Center and the Organization of American States worked in Venezuela with both sides of a political crisis in which President Hugo Chavez's administration had been criticized for increasingly undemocratic actions. "What we thought would be a two-month mediation turned into two-and-a-half years," McCoy said. The crisis culminated in a presidential recall election, and Chavez remained in power.
McCoy and The Carter Center are watching Venezuela and the other countries of the Andean region closely due to ongoing conflict and governmental changes. Bolivia and Ecuador are currently implementing new constitutions. Chavez recently amended his constitution to allow for indefinite reelection.
Looking ahead, the Americas Program will continue to find ways to reinforce democratic principles in the Caribbean and Latin America through projects such as strengthening professional journalism in Venezuela and convening dialogue between influential citizens of Colombia and Ecuador, whose relations are strained.
But no matter the program's specific endeavors, McCoy's combination of real-world and classroom experience will bring unique insight to both her jobs.
Plus, her students love it when she says, "When I met Fidel Castro …."
Photo credit: Carter Center
Dr. Jennifer McCoy talks with voters in Bolivia in January 2009.
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