The Crisis of Democracy Promotion: The Rhetorics and Practice of the EU's Democratization Policy in Its Neighbourhood I

Abstract

The proposed panel is the first panel of two (please, consider the second panel proposal submission entitled “The Crisis of Democracy Promotion: The Rhetorics and Practice of the EU’s Democratization Policy in Its Neighbourhood II as an inseparable element of this very panel proposal) that juxtaposes the European Union’s rhetorical commitment to promoting democracy abroad with its external democracy promotion in its near neighbourhood in practice. It is based on a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies to be published in early 2017 and as such wishes to present a series of papers on the topic to receive further comments and suggestions for improvement from the audience before final submission to the journal. To offer a holistic picture of the juxtaposition in question, the first paper discusses the several critical junctures that can be identified in the European Union’s path towards becoming a conscious democracy promoting actor. To achieve this, the paper finds theoretical grounding in Manners’ Normative Power Europe framework. The paper concludes by outlining a comprehensive list of instruments that the European Union has established over the almost seven decades of its existence to facilitate democracy promotion. This introductory paper is followed by a paper contribution that takes a closer look at whether the 2004/2007/2013 EU enlargements should be treated as a separate critical juncture; in others words, has the EU’s external democratization policy received new impetus as a result of the new member states joining? These two papers are followed by three specific case studies where the findings of the first two papers are tested against EU democratization policy on the ground. The first case focuses on the EU’s efforts in fostering democracy in Georgia, with the second assessing the extent to which Europeanization of the Western Balkans should be treated as their democratization. The third case addresses the European Union’s ability to transfer democracy to Ukraine. Please, see the second panel proposal for additional 5 paper proposals that are structured in a way as to complement and round-off this very proposal.

Title	Details
Framing the Debate: The Evolution of the European Union as an External Democratization Actor	View Paper Details
The External Democratization Efforts of a Union of Twenty-Eight: Breaking with the Past?	View Paper Details
Development Relations between the Visegrád Four and Georgia: Jumping on the Bandwagon?	View Paper Details
Between Europeanization and Democratization: To What Extent is the EU a Democracy Promoter in the Western Balkans?	View Paper Details