After fighting two wars in the name of democratic regime change during the Bush administration, most Americans associate democracy promotion with coercive action. Because autocratic regimes govern by immoral means, so the logic goes, they must be coerced into changing or forced out of power. Many human rights organizations and democracy promotion organizations also advocate punishment as a response to abusive or undemocratic behavior by autocratic regimes. These organizations usually refrain from recommending military force against bad regimes, but they almost always call for economic