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Begin New Search Topic Democratization Political Geography Europe Content Type Working Paper

31. Good Governance and Bad Neighbors? The Limits of the Transformative Power of Europe

Author:
Tanja A. Börzel and Vera van Hüllen
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The EU\'s Eastern Enlargement is considered to be one of the (few) successful experiments of promoting good – both effective and legitimate – governance. By contrast, the EU\'s transformative power appears to be weak or non-existent vis-à-vis its (old) neighbors in the South and its (new) neighbors in the East. Both are not only marked by \'bad governance\' but also lack a (credible) membership perspective. While the Western Balkans and Turkey have made significant progress towards good governance, both with regard to government effectiveness and democratic legitimacy, the European Neighborhood Countries (ENCs) appear to be stuck in transition or never got that far in the first place. Even when the effectiveness of their governance institutions has improved, they remain well behind the other regions and especially their democratic legitimacy is still wanting or even in decline. The paper shows that there is a correlation between an EU membership perspective and the successful transformation of neighboring countries. Therefore, it has been argued that the ineffectiveness of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is due to the lack of this \'golden carrot\'. However, we argue that the prospects of EU membership stabilizes rather than drives the move towards effective and legitimate governance in candidate countries. Thus, a membership perspective is unlikely to either turn around negative or speed up positive developments in the EU\'s neighborhood. Even if the ENCs received a membership perspective, it would be unlikely to push them significantly towards democratic and effective governance as long as there is no endogenously driven process of change. Given the EU\'s preference for stability and state-building, the ENP does not provide an alternative for promoting good governance either. The ENP clearly lacks transformative power and where it might have some domestic impact, it risks consolidating rather than undermining authoritarian regimes by helping to strengthen their capacities for effective governance.
Topic:
Democratization, Regional Cooperation, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

32. Europeanization Subverted? The European Union's Promotion of Good Governance and the Fight against Corruption in the Southern Caucasus

Author:
Tanja A. Börzel and Yasemin Pamuk
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
In order to foster peace, stability and prosperity in its near abroad, the European Union has invoked the European Neighbourhood Policy that seeks to transform the domestic structures of the Newly Independent States in the post-Soviet space thus building a “ring of friends” that share European norms and principles of democracy, rule of the law, market economy, and good governance. Empirical evidence, however, suggests that the EU's capacity to hit across its borders and to realize its reform agenda seems limited. Moreover, most neighborhood countries appear to be stuck in transition and suffer from serious problems of both weak state capacity and defect democracy. Hence, EU efforts may also bear the danger of unintended and negative effects on the domestic structures of states, as its policies and institutions do not only empower liberal reform coalitions, to the extent that they exist in the first place, but can also bolster the power of incumbent authoritarian and corrupt elites. This paper intends to capture this “dark side of Europeanization” (Schimmelfennig 2007). It thus conceptualizes ENP as a political opportunity structure that provides opportunities and constraints to both supporters and opponents of the European Union's reform agenda. Which of the two ultimately get empowered depends not only on the EU's capacity to push for reforms but also on the pull of domestic actors.
Topic:
Democratization, Regional Cooperation, and Hegemony
Political Geography:
Europe

33. Strengthening Oversight of the Security Sector

Author:
Erik Sportel (ed) and Vasili Tchkoidze (ed)
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
Since the 2003 Rose Revolution, Georgia has undertaken serious reforms, moving the country towards becoming a democracy and a market economy. Instead of proceeding at a steady pace, Georgia has chosen to take an accelerated path to reform. Since coming to office, the Saakashvili administration has underlined its ambition to bring Georgia into Euro-Atlantic structures. After an energetic start, Georgia ran into difficulties in late 2007 and 2008. During this period, the democratic credential s of the Saakashvili government were put to the test for the first time. The government was faced with massive public demonstrations, to which it res ponded in a heavy-handed fashion. The security forces attacked protesters, and the government declared a state of emergency, blaming the unrest on Russia. M any domestic and foreign observers feared that Georgia was abandoning the road to democracy. However, the state of emergency was soon lifted, and the government called an early presidential election. International observer s judged the election to be largely democratic, despite some irregularities, but opposition forces claimed that the president's results had been boosted by fraud. Mr Saakashvili won an absolute majority in the first round of polling. The subsequent parliamentary elections in the spring of 2008 gave the ruling United National Movement party a landslide victory. With 119 out of 150 seats, the party currently holds a two-thirds majority in parliament. The two major opposition parties (winning 17 and six seats respectively) refused to take their seats in parliament.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Democratization, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Caucasus

34. Is There a Puzzle? Compliance with Minority Rights in Turkey (1999-2010)

Author:
Gözde Yilmaz
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The Helsinki Summit in 1999 represents a turning point for EU–Turkey relations. Turkey gained status as a formal candidate country for the EU providing a strong incentive to launch democratic reforms for the ultimate reward of membership. Since 2001, the country has launched a number of reforms in minority rights. Many controversial issues, such as denial of the existence of the Kurds, or the lack of property rights granted to non-Muslim minorities in the country, have made progress. Even though the reforms in minority rights may represent a tremendous step for the Europeanization process of Turkey, the compliance trend in minority rights is neither progressive nor smooth. While there is a consensus within the literature about the acceleration of reforms starting in 2002 and the slow down by 2005 in almost all policy areas, scholars are divided into two camps regarding the continuing slow down of the reform process or the revival of the reforms since 2008. I argue, in the present paper, that the compliance process with minority rights in Turkey is puzzling due to the differentiated outcome and the recent revival of behavioral compliance. I aim to shed light on the empirical facts in the least-likely area for reform in the enlargement process. Through a detailed analysis of minority-related reform process of Turkey being an instance of ongoing compliance, the paper contributes to the literature divided on the end result of Europeanization in the country recently.
Topic:
Democratization, Human Rights, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Asia

35. The Tunisian Revolution: An Opportunity for Democratic Transition

Author:
Nathalie Tocci, Rym Ayadi, Maria Cristina Paciello, and Silvia Colombo
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Owing to its macroeconomic achievements, for decades Tunisia projected an image of stability to the world and distinguished itself from other Arab countries for its progress in the areas of economic growth, health, education and women's rights. This widely held view of apparent stability was shattered on January 14, when President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country after high levels of unemployment and inequalities resulted in widespread chaos and social unrest. Events in Tunisia raise sharp questions regarding the country's current situation and its future prospects and, more generally, the often taken-forgranted sustainability of many regimes of the Middle East and the policies of the European Union towards the region.
Topic:
Democratization and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Europe, Arabia, North Africa, and Tunisia

36. Ethnic or multi-ethnic parties? Party competition and legislative recruitment in Moldova

Author:
Oleh Protsyk and Ion Osoian
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Securing adequate representation of minorities in institutions of the state is commonly described in the literature as an important mechanism for addressing issues of ethnic tensions in culturally diverse societies. A proportional electoral system is generally perceived as more friendly for representation of minority interests than a majoritarian single member district system. The introduction of the former system in a number of post-communist countries encouraged institutionalization of ethnic minority parties. These parties became a permanent part of the political landscape in South Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, Ethnic Government, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Romania

37. Furthering Democracy through the European Union's Development Policy: Legal Limitations and Possibilities

Author:
Morten Broberg
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This working paper provides an analysis of the efforts by the European Union to support democracy building in developing countries. It focuses on the specific question of the legal obligations of, and limits for, the European Union in seeking to further democracy through its policies directed at developing countries. The core of the paper is an examination of the legal framework governing the Union's relations with developing countries and the possibilities for furthering democracy. The paper considers the European Union's determination of whether a third country complies, in legal terms, with its 'democratic obligations', and how it is able to control and sanction non-compliance. On the basis of these examinations the possibilities of furthering democracy and the rule of law in the Union's development cooperation legislation are analysed.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Law, Third World, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

38. Quantum Surveillance and 'Shared Secrets'

Author:
Juliet Lodge
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
It is no longer sensible to regard biometrics as having neutral socio-economic, legal and political impacts. Newer generation biometrics are fluid and include behavioural and emotional data that can be combined with other data. Therefore, a range of issues needs to be reviewed in light of the increasing privatisation of 'security' that escapes effective, democratic parliamentary and regulatory control and oversight at national, international and EU levels, argues Juliet Lodge, Professor and co-Director of the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at the University of Leeds, UK.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

39. Covering Corruption: The Difficulties of Trying to Make a Difference

Author:
Rosemary Armao
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
It is often taken for granted that a free press shining a light on wrongdoing is the way to ntrol corruption. The World Bank, with an eye to the economic potential of honest government, promotes this, as do United Nations agencies and the U.S. and European governments, which spend millions of dollars to develop media with corruption-fighting power. And brave journalists have endured threats and attacks and have even died reporting about corruption. In June and July of 2010 alone, three Philippino and a Greek journalist-working in different media and on different topics, but all exposing corruption-were gunned down. Covering corruption is more dangerous than covering war.
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, Development, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

40. Parliamentary War Powers: A Survey of 25 European Parliaments

Author:
Sandra Dieterich, Hartwig Hummel, and Stefan Marschall
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
This paper presents a survey of parliamentary 'war powers' based on a comprehensive and detailed review of the degrees and institutional forms of parliamentary involvement in military security policy-making. As our original research project focused on the involvement of European Union (EU) states in the recent Iraq war, we present data for the then 25 member and accession states of the EU as of early 2003. This survey of parliamentary war powers covers the legislative, budgetary, control, communicationrelated and dismissal powers of the respective parliaments relating to the use of military force. Referring to this data, we distinguish five classes of democratic nation-states, ranging from those with 'very strong' to those with only 'very weak' war powers of the respective national parliament.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Democratization, Governance, and Law
Political Geography:
Iraq and Europe