The Role of External Actors and Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe: A Systematic Overview

The illiberal turn in Hungary and Poland highlighted the issue of democratic consolidation and democratic backsliding. However, the erosion of democracy is not only an issue for Poland and Hungary. It seems that it is a very complex phenomenon relevant to other countries in the region. The main aim of the contribution is to provide a systematic overview of the existing research regarding democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe with a focus on the role of external actors, including the EU institutions, international organizations, and other relevant bodies which are interacting with affected countries. As there are hundreds of new articles every month, the contribution will hopefully present the current state of the art, identify gaps in the research and derive principal questions relevant to the issue. Based on existing literature, the presenters will try to answer the most salient issue: what shall be done by the external actors to address democratic backsliding while not providing ground for populism and alienation of the domestic population in the country concerned?