The European Union as a socializing actor: Accessing the influence of transnational networks

The European Union (EU) is largely involved in programs aimed at experience transfer targeting public officials in the former Soviet republics (FSRs). Existing literature demonstrates that officials change their attitude towards democratic practices by participating in transgovernmental policy networks. These networks, as suggested in literature, socialize domestic officials to democratic practices assuming that this might potentially contribute to broader democratization. These networks can serve as indirect instruments of promotion of good governance and sometimes might be more effective comparing to the direct ones. Without being openly focussed on liberal democracy advancement, these indirect instruments might meet less resistance from national governments comparing to more politicized projects. In this case, norms and practices of good governance might be transferred through a “back door”. Therefore, transnational professional networks might serve as indirect instrument of human rights promotion. But we still lack understanding of whether and if so, to what extent this instrument might induce democratic practices in third states. Human rights and physical integrity rights, in particular are the core value for the EU internal and foreign policy. Human rights like right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from political imprisonment, and forced disappearance are the most basic human rights. Violation of these rights is interpreted as political terror or political repressions of state against its citizens. Respect for these rights make the core of “good governance” concept of the EU, and these are deeply intertwined with its domestic and external policy. Moreover, principles of good governance such as human rights and democracy are inherently in-built into the professional networks aimed at acquis transfer. Additionally, being based on intensive and regular working relations, these enable socialization processes to begin. Therefore, transnational networks might provide a solid background for socialization to new standards of practices. Making an existing argument that these transnational networks might impact domestic practices and lead to broader democratization, previous researches do not test it. Using panel data analysis of twelve post-Soviet states over twenty years, I analyse whether participation in transnational professional networks leads to broader socialization to democratic norms. Focusing on the sample of government repressions in FSRs from 1992 to 2011, I demonstrate that these networks might stimulate some socialization to human rights in the region. The effect of professional networks is detected only when there is political will for establishing professional ties. The results suggest that states that are more willing to get involved into professional networks are more likely to demonstrate convergence with the core element of EU’s understanding of democracy i.e., human rights. Overall, these results point out that although socialization might have some positive impact, it is not likely to deliver significant changes in the FSRs.