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Martin Dahinden, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Ambassador, joined a Live Policy Debate on Aid and Democratisation at the Graduate Institute on Wednesday, 17 September 2014.Policymakers, practitioners, professors and students gathered at Maison de la Paix to follow the lively debate between Ambassador Dahinden and Geert Laporte, Deputy Director, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). Each panellist briefly presented their reflections before opening the debate to the floor and inviting the audience to participate.In his presentation, Ambassador Dahinden argued that democratisation is inherently political and that the local power relationships need to be understood in order for it to be successful. Mr Laporte reminded the audience that democracy building is a long-term process and said we need to avoid being overly normative, but instead be flexible, pragmatic and patient.The debate was moderated by Prof. Gilles Carbonnier (Graduate Institute | Editor-in-chief of the journal International Development Policy).The event drew upon the e-debate Aid and Democratisation with inputs by Martin Dahinden (SDC), Olivier Roy (European University Institute), Jean Bossuyt (ECDPM) and Didier Péclard (swisspeace), which was published in the journal International Development Policy in 2013.Join the debate online and post your comments and questions now on our blog or on Twitter: @DevPolJournal | Facebook: facebook.com/DevPolJournalWatch the debate online:&#160;&#160;&#160;