Community Norm Violations, Solidarity and European Integration: Does Democratic Backsliding in Member States Undermine Support for Public Goods Provision in the EU?

Democracy and the rule of law are fundamental community norms of the European Union (EU). However, the EU has so far been unable to prevent several of its member states from democratic backsliding. While previous literature has investigated the causes and practices of democratic backsliding, as well as the EU’s response, there has been less empirical research on the consequences of democratic backsliding for European integration and its legitimacy. In this paper, we investigate whether democratic backsliding in one member state reduces EU policy and regime support of citizens in other member states. Building on insights from behavioural economics, we argue that European citizens value reciprocal norm compliance and are willing to sanction norm-violating member states in order to sustain the norms of the political community and to ensure compliance with the "rules of the game". To test this argument, we conduct an original survey experiment in four EU member states. Specifically, we assess how information about democratic backsliding and the EU’s response shape survey respondents’ assessment of the EU and their support for EU policy proposals.