The discussion of strategy in the public sector reviews the basic concept that in order for a public-sector initiative or enterprise to be viable in the real world, it must meet three tests: achievement of some important public value, have legitimacy and attract support from those who are in a position to contribute money and authority, and have a set of operational capacities sufficient to achieve the goal. In considering the United States' efforts to provide technical assistance resources for policing in emerging democracies, this paper discusses the circumstances under which the issue of assisting democracy's development through police reform becomes interesting and important. A second topic discussed involves the situations in which the issue becomes important not only for the country undergoing reform but also the United States. A third issue discussed involves whether the host country's or the United States' interests have priority in police reform efforts. The author presents a basic analytic framework for identifying the relationship between the reform of government, the reform of policing, and the form that police reform takes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relationship between the goals of support for U.S. law enforcement objectives, on the one hand, and the goal of supporting democracy on the other hand. Related issues considered are the forms of policing that are available for consideration as "export items," the mechanisms by which any particular form of policing might affect the quality of democracy, and the rules and instruments of engagement in exporting a model of policing. 4 figures