European Democracy Promotion in Crisis: Conflicts of Objectives, Neglected External–Domestic Interactions and the Authoritarian Backlash

Abstract

Democracy promotion is an integral component of European foreign policy. However, the 1990s' rosy proliberalization rhetoric faded with the failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the bumpy integration of the Western Balkans into the EU and the persistence of authoritarianism in the Arab world despite the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring. This article suggests four explanations for the observed lack of effectiveness of European democracy promotion: (1) the absence of a consensus among democracy promoters about policy objectives, and the interference of hidden agendas; (2) the neglect of rational interests of domestic actors and the dynamics of the external-domestic interplay in democracy promotion; (3) the adaption of authoritarian incumbents to the domestic and international threats to democratize, and (4) the existence of negative external actors interested in promoting autocracy and undermining democratic transition.

Ten Challenges in Democracy Support – and How to Overcome them

“…Despite the weight of scholarly advice that ‘context matters’ in democracy support, some complain that context ‘is still not taken seriously’ by practitioners and policy makers (Grimm, , p. 79). In our experience, the problem is not that this advice is not taken seriously, but that many are unsure what, precisely, it means.…”

“…Democracy is an essentially contested concept, so different democracy supporters have contrasting visions of what it means (Grimm, ). This makes it extremely difficult to determine what success looks like and how it should be measured.…”

“…For example, one set of recommendations has focused on improving coordination within the donor community. While this recommendation is made more frequently with respect to development aid than democracy support, several analysts have pointed out that donors would be far more likely to achieve democratic breakthroughs if they were to pool resources, agree a common agenda and present a united front (for example, see Faust et al., ; Grimm ).…”

Conclusion: How to Rule the Void? Policy Responses to a ‘Hollowing Out’ of Democracy

“…The contributions that approach the topic from a European foreign policy perspective suggest both a revision and a further strengthening of existing external democracy protection and promotion measures (Grimm, ; Kotthaus, ). These measures suggest a more coordinated and European solution to promote and secure democratic developments beyond European borders.…”

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

“…Since the end of the Cold War, international actors' increased dynamism in promoting democracy led to an exponential expansion of the literature on External Democracy Promotion (EDP). Despite widely supported conclusions on whether and to what extent EDP has been successful are still lacking, 1 the literature has generated sophisticated explanations of these processes. This subject is even more important today, since democratic backsliding has become a key challenge: 2 hence, EDP needs to be evaluated also on its capacity to prevent autocratization.…”