Between Historical Legacies and the Promise of Western Integration: Democratic Conditionality after Communism

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigore Pop-Eleches
Keyword(s):  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Democratic Attitudes ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Political Conditionality ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Domestic Power ◽  
East Central European

Post-communist democracy promotion has been most important in “borderline” countries, which had less favorable structural conditions than the East-Central European frontrunners, but where a domestic democratic constituency nevertheless existed and could benefit from Western support. External democracy promotion efforts have ranged from “soft” diplomatic pressure to economic and military sanctions and have acted through a variety of channels: (1) promotion of democratic attitudes among citizens yearning for Western integration, (2) political incentives for elites (in government and in the opposition), (3) domestic power balance shifts in favor of democratic politicians, and (4) promotion of better democratic governance through incentives for public administration reform. The most effective approach to democracy promotion thus far, however, has been the combination of political conditionality with significant political/economic incentives, best exemplified by the European integration process. Furthermore, the success of any strategy hinges on its fit with the geopolitical and domestic environment of the country in question. In particular, external actors must be more sensitive to the national sovereignty implications of such interventions, which can be easily exploited by domestic antidemocratic actors to undermine democracy promotion efforts.

scholarly journals Regional Transformation of the Horn of Africa: Implications for BRI Implementation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Zhang Chun
Keyword(s):  
Social Changes ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Regional Transformation ◽  
Leadership Turnover ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Trade And Investment

The Horn of Africa (HoA) is on the threshold of a long-term transformation as the result of a confluence of political, economic, and social changes, namely, generational political leadership turnover as a reflection of the rise of a younger population; a palpable shift in governance approach from a “security-first” model to a “development-centered” one; and the return of geopolitics across the Red Sea, following global and regional political realignments. To steer the transformation in a sustainable and peaceful direction, the HoA has to enlist the assistance of external actors both as a source of trade and investment and as guarantors of regional peace and stability. This region-wide transformation presents challenges and opportunities for the implementation of the Chinese-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Beijing should better align the economic connectivity-focused BRI with the development-centered approach of regional states, build national and regional capacity for HoA security governance, and join local and external actors in a multilateral effort to ensure a peaceful, secure, and economically dynamic HoA.

From Elections to Democracy in Hard Times

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Meyerrose ◽  
Thomas Edward Flores ◽  
Irfan Nooruddin
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Additional Research ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Economic

The end of the Cold War, heralded as the ideological triumph of (Western) liberal democracy, was accompanied by an electoral boom and historically high levels of economic development. More recently, however, democratic progress has stalled, populism has been on the rise, and a number of democracies around the world are either backsliding or failing entirely. What explains this contemporary crisis of democracy despite conditions theorized to promote democratic success? Research on democratization and democracy promotion tends to focus predominantly on elections. Although necessary for democracy, free and fair elections are more effective at promoting democratic progress when they are held in states with strong institutions, such as those that can guarantee the rule of law and constraints on executive power. However, increased globalization and international economic integration have stunted the development of these institutions by limiting states’ economic policy options, and, as a result, their fiscal policy space. When a state’s fiscal policy space—or, its ability to collect and spend revenue—is limited, governments are less able to provide public goods to citizens, politicians rely on populist rather than ideological appeals to win votes, and elections lose their democratizing potential. Additional research from a political–economic framework that incorporates insights from studies on state building and institutions with recent approaches to democratization and democracy promotion, which focus predominantly on elections, is needed. Such a framework provides avenues for additional research on the institutional aspects of ongoing democratization and democratic backsliding.

PROBLEMATICS OF PROTECTING THE NATIONHOOD OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE SCOPE OF ENSURING NATIONAL SECURITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-153
Author(s):  
D.A. AFINOGENOV ◽  
◽  
S.Y. ALFEROV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
National Security ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
State Level ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Main Task ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Military

The purpose of the article is to develop recommendations for countering the destruction of the nationhood of the Russian Federation. The subject of the article is various aspects of countering the technologies of destruction of nationhood, reflected in the strategic planning documents. The results of the accomplished work: based on the analysis of the doctrinal documents of foreign actors and the modern practice of destructive impact on the target countries, the authors identified the most relevant technologies through which the destruction of nationhood occurs: information, political, economic and cyber impact on the population and infrastructure. Currently, the main threats are shifted from the military and economic spheres to the information one. One of the priority tasks of external actors is to influence the population in order to change values and meanings. In connection with the dominance of the power component in the regulatory and legal framework in the field of national security of Russia, the authors propose to make a number of changes to the main documents of strategic planning, strengthening the problems of the humanitarian component, spiritual and moral values, and culture. At the same time, the main task at the state level should be the creation of a holistic, in terms of goal-setting and management, system of counteracting the destruction of statehood.

scholarly journals Fundamentals of the Foreign Policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the Present Stage

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-139
Author(s):  
V. A. Avatkov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Regional Center ◽  
The Republic ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

The article analyzes the basis of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy at the present stage. The main attention is paid to the documentary substantiation of foreign policy, political and legal bases of foreign policy strategy, and key organizations in this area. There is analysis of the most significant areas of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. It is noted that the Republic is trying to find a new balance in the region and the world, pragmatically maintaining contacts with the main players in the region – Russia, the United States, Turkey and Iran. Moreover, in foreign policy documents of Baku, special emphasis is placed on cooperation with the West, in particular, there is a strengthening not only in the framework of doctrinal cooperation with NATO and the EU, but also constant contacts on all political, economic and military lines. In addition, the leadership of Azerbaijan pays special attention to the problem of Nagorno‑Karabakh. The article also shows that the fundamental documents that determine the external state agenda, although they are sufficiently Westernoriented, at the same time reflect the ambition of Azerbaijan in the context of becoming a regional center of power. This process is also influenced by external actors, in particular the Republic of Turkey. It was determined that the territorial issue, logistic and military issues, regional and global political trends are indicators, thanks to which one can observe the transformation of the foreign policy of Azerbaijan. In the context of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, it was revealed that the interaction between the countries seems significant for both states in terms of ensuring security in the South Caucasus.

A Structural-Institutional Explanation of the Eurozone Crisis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Iversen ◽  
David Soskice
Keyword(s):  
Growth Models ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Eurozone Crisis ◽  
Macroeconomic Policies ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
Public Sector Unions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Cost ◽  
Political Economic

This chapter presents an argument about the underlying reasons for the persistent economic troubles in the Eurozone based on the two different and divergent growth models in the Eurozone’s member states: the export-oriented, skill-intensive, coordinated model of the northern and continental welfare economies and the demand-driven model with strong public sector unions in southern Europe. The chapter then argues that the interactions between macroeconomic policies and national institutions render policies that are appropriate for southern Europe dysfunctional for northern Europe, and vice versa. Is goes on to discuss different reform scenarios for the Eurozone, emphasizing that all reforms come at a considerable political cost, as the same political-economic institutions that would have to be reformed have strong stakes in the status quo in both political economy models. As there are no political incentives for structural change in either model, crises will persist.

scholarly journals External Democracy Promotion in Time of Democratic Crisis: Linkage, Leverage, and Domestic Actors’ Diversionary Behaviours

2020 ◽  
pp. 088832542095453
Author(s):  
Antonino Castaldo
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Congruence Analysis ◽  
External Actors

Since the 1990s, the literature on External Democracy Promotion (EDP) expanded exponentially. Despite widely supported conclusions on EDP (in)effectiveness in fostering democratization and preventing democratic backsliding are still lacking, the literature has generated sophisticated explanations of these processes. Among them, Levitsky and Way’s (L&W’s) linkage and leverage theory stands out as one of the most influential. According to Tolstrup, however, their underestimation of domestic agency constitutes a crucial lacuna, which he proposes to fill through the concept of “Gatekeeping Elite” that underlines a significant impact of local actors on the linkage dimension and, consequently, on EDP (in)effectiveness. I believe that Tolstrup’s intuition can be further developed, expanding even more the explanatory power of L&W’s theory. I claim that domestic actors may exert a crucial influence also on the leverage dimension, thanks to “diversionary behaviours” that local elites may use to change external actors’ interests and preferences, persuading them to limit their democratizing pressures and thus reduce their own vulnerability to EDP processes. To assess the plausibility of this claim, I perform a congruence analysis on the recent and crucial case of autocratization in Serbia (EU candidate country), which is not fully explained by the aforementioned models.

scholarly journals The Eastern Partnership as a Contested Neighbourhood: The Role of External Actors – The EU and Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Legucka ◽  
◽  
Agata Włodkowska
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Political System ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern Partnership ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Common ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

Contestation remains a signifi cant factor in the EU neighbourhood. The aim of this article is to elaborate on the role of external actors – namely the European Union and the Russian Federation – in managing local and regional contestation. The latter is defined as incompatibilities between two or more competing views about how political, economic, social, and territorial order should be established and/or sustained. Competing interests between the EU and Russia concern many issues; the model of political system in the neighbourhood (democracy vs. authoritarianism), the model and direction of the economic integration of these countries (European or Eurasia integration), and the infrastructure and availability of gas and oil (energy disputes). The common neighbourhood, which concerns EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine), has become an area of rivalry rather than cooperation between the EU and Russia. The first seeks to stabilise the post-Soviet area, while Russia exploits local destabilisations and conflicts to maintain its influence there.

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