The EU enlargement literature has predominately favored the rationalist explanation of the democratic transformation of Central and Eastern European countries in the context of EU accession. The empowerment of pro-reform political elites through external manipulation of EU incentives and disincentives has largely been credited for the democratization of the region. The existing studies have under-emphasized the societal dimension of the EU accession process and the normative context in which the EU leverage has been applied. Taking a societal perspective, this paper examines the societal empowerment as a scope condition of Europeanization and argues that while the incentive of EU membership has been a powerful driver of change in the pre-accession process, it needs a facilitating societal context to produce durable domestic transformation. Focusing on Bulgaria’s democratic transformation pre- and post- accession, the paper shows that the perceived legitimacy of the EU conditionality in the pre-accession process has created a strong pro-reform societal constituency beyond the political establishment that has the potential to sustain the reform dynamic in the post-accession period in the absence of strong EU leverage mechanisms.
