ECPR

Install the app

Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.

Just tap Share then “Add to Home Screen”

ECPR

Install the app

Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.

Just tap Share then “Add to Home Screen”

Supporting and Promoting Democracy in the European Union’s Neighbourhood

Europe (Central and Eastern)
Democratisation
P023
Theofanis Exadaktylos
University of Surrey
Tina Freyburg
Universität St Gallen
Central and East European Politics
Monday 09:00 – Thursday 17:00 (25/03/2024 – 28/03/2024)
The EU’s external democracy support efforts have revolved around mechanisms such as accession conditionality and socialisation, underpinned by the transfer of values, norms and procedures across an expanding area of EU external action. But while the definitive prospect of membership provided strong incentives for democratisation to Central and Eastern European candidate countries, the challenges to democracy support in the EU’s eastern and southern neighbourhood proved more formidable. The purpose of this workshop is to explore the challenges encountered by the EU in supporting democracy and democratic initiatives in its eastern and southern neighbourhood.
As an integration project dedicated to preserving peace among its Member States, the EU has evolved over the past six decades into a community of like-minded members who share a host of fundamental values such as human rights, equality, freedom and the rule of law. Crucially, democracy is the necessary scaffolding for supporting the principles that guide all EU policies, and which Brussels seeks to promote both within and outside its borders. The challenges encountered by the EU in supporting democracy and democratic initiatives in its eastern and southern neighbourhood can come in various ways from: (a) The EU itself as the process of integration is continuing and as its own member states face democratic backsliding and erosion through the increase in right-wing populist party support (b) The geopolitical location of the EU’s eastern and southern neighbours, considering the Great Power competition with Russia, China, the US and the sensitive relations in the Middle East (c) The demand for democracy and support for democratisation processes within the countries of the eastern and southern neighbourhood. The workshop is supported by three Horizon Europe projects that commenced work in 2023 and by 2024 will present innovative and novel insights into the working mechanisms of EU democracy support: • REDEMOS: Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support – Towards a sustained demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood • SHAPEDEM-EU: Rethinking and Reshaping the EU’s Democracy Support in its Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood • EMBRACE: Embracing Change: Overcoming Blockages and Advancing Democracy in the European Neighbourhood
- Auer, S. 2015. “Carl Schmitt in the Kremlin: the Ukraine crisis and the return of geopolitics”. International Affairs 91 (5): 953-968. - Barbé, E., and E. Johansson-Nogués, E. 2008. “The EU as a Modest ‘Force for Good’: The European Neighbourhood Policy”. International Affairs 84 (1): 81–96. - Börzel, T. and B. Lebanidze. 2017. ““The transformative power of Europe” beyond enlargement: the EU’s performance in promoting democracy in its neighbourhood”. East European Politics 33 (1): 17-35. - Casier, T. 2011. “The EU’s two-track approach to democracy promotion: the case of Ukraine”. Democratization 18 (4): 956-977. - Casier, T. 2021. “Russia and the diffusion of political norms: the perfect rival? Democratization. doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2021.1928078 - Chandler, D. 2013. “Promoting democratic norms? Social constructivism and the ‘subjective’ limits to liberalism.” Democratization 20 (2): 215-239. - Colombo, S. and N. Shapovalova. 2018. “The European Neighbourhood Policy promotion of civil society”. In: Schumacher, T., A. Marchetti, and T. Demmelhuber (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of the European Neighbourhood Policy. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 494-506. - Dandashly, A. and G. Noutcheva. 2019. “Unintended Consequences of EU Democracy Support in the European Neighbourhood”. International Spectator 54 (1): 105-120. - Diamond, L. 2021. “Democratic regression in comparative perspective: scope, methods, and causes”. Democratization 28 (1): 22-42. - Elstub, S. and O. Escobar. 2019. Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance. Cheltenham: EE. - Freyburg, T., S. Lavenex, F. Schimmelfennig, T. Skripka, and A. Wetzel. 2011. “Democracy promotion through functional cooperation? The case of the European Neighbourhood Policy”. Democratization 18 (4): 1026-1054. - Freyburg, T. and S. Lavenex. 2018. “Democracy promotion by functional cooperation”. In: Schumacher, T., A. Marchetti, and and T. Demmelhuber (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of the European Neighbourhood Policy. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 467-480. - Haggard, S. & R. Kaufman. 2021.Backsliding. Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World. Cambridge: CUP. - Kneuer, M., and T. Demmelhuber. 2021. Authoritarian Gravity Center: A Cross-Regional Study of Authoritarian Promotion and Diffusion, London, New York: Routledge. - Lavenex, S. and F. Schimmelfennig. 2011. “EU democracy promotion in the neighbourhood. From leverage to governance?”. Democractization 18 (4): 885-910. - Manners, I. 2002. “Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?” JCMS. Journal of Common Market Studies 40 (2): 235-258. - Merkel, W. and A. Lührmann. 2021. “Resilience of democracies: responses to illiberal and authoritarian challenges”. Democratization 28 (5): 869-884. - Nilsson, M. and D. Silander. 2016. Democracy and Security in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood? Assessing the ENP in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, Democracy and Security 12 (1): 44-61. - Onar Fisher, N. and K. Nicolaïdis. 2013. “The Decentring Agenda: Europe as a post-colonial power”. Cooperation and Conflict 48 (2): 283-303. - Schumacher, T. 2020. “The EU and its Neighbourhood. The Politics of Muddling Through”. JCMS. Journal of Common Market Studies 58 (S1): 187-201. - Welzel, C. and R. Inglehart. 2008. “The role of ordinary people in democratization”. Journal of Democracy 19 (1): 126-140.
1: How effective are the EU’s strategies for democracy support towards the neighbourhood countries?
2: Has the EU’s good governance agenda been instrumental in promoting democracy?
3: How does competition between other international players affect democratisation in these countries?
4: What kind of a democracy is externally promoted, and what demand and support exists on the ground?
5: What is the opportunity for grassroot emergence of democratic initiatives?
Title Details
Developing democracy, soviet legacy, and geopolitical tension: how political parties impact democracy reform in Moldova and Georgia View Paper Details
Plus ça change…Explaining EU policy adaption towards the European Neighbourhood in the light of rising authoritarianism View Paper Details
Trust towards and support for the European Union in Armenia and Georgia: How trends changed during the last decade View Paper Details
EU-Energy Policy with the EU’s Neighbourhood. An obstacle to democratic practices between the EU and the EaP countries? View Paper Details
Gender Equality, Democracy Support and Security in the EU’s neighbourhood policies View Paper Details
Conditional under what conditions? Analysing the democratic preconditions for the EU’s application of ex-ante aid allocation in the European neighbourhood View Paper Details
Perception dynamics in democracy promotion: Exploring the EU’s external image and its impact on diplomatic practices View Paper Details
Changing patterns of contestation of democracy support in the EU. Comparative analysis of EU member states’ practices in EU democracy support View Paper Details
EU Member States Supporting Democracy in the Eastern Neighborhood? View Paper Details
The Limited Attractiveness of EU-Style Liberal Democracy View Paper Details
Assessing the effectiveness of EU democracy promotion strategies in the ENP: A theoretical framework View Paper Details
Taking stock of the EU’s good governance agenda: what’s in it for democracy in the ENP? View Paper Details
Much more than liberal democracy: Tracing the conceptual evolution of EU democracy promotion, 2004-2019 View Paper Details
A new approach for evaluating democratic progress, stasis and regression in the Eastern Neighbourhood View Paper Details