The role of the European Union in the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe

Résumé du document

In the concept of « consolidation of democracy », two aspects can lead to misunderstanding. Firstly, one can interrogate on the direction towards which such a consolidation is supposed to tend, as the word « consolidation » implies that democracy already exists, as something is bound to exist if it is in a consolidation phase. In other words, what is « more democracy » compared to « less democracy », or “basic democracy”? Secondly, the nature of democratic consolidation itself: is it only a phase of democratisation or a continuous process characterising democracy? Since the establishment of the first « modern » democracies at the end of the eighteen century, there have been many interpretations of what should be the main features and characteristics of a democratic regime. Indeed, for the last two centuries, the word democracy has been used in various occasions and to describe highly different forms of governments, some of which were not democratic at all. So how democracy could be defined? This question, which could seem simple at first sight, has been, and is still a source for debate in the world of political science. Indeed, when looking for more precise definitions of democracy than these by Abraham Lincoln, who asserted that democracy was « the government of the people, by the people and for the people », or by Winston Churchill, who described democracy as « the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried », it is relevant to highlight that there is a plurality of approaches among researchers in political science. This plurality is based on qualitative and quantitative tensions within the concept of democracy, also sources for many controversies between specialists of the democratisation processes.

Extraits

[...] These concepts, namely “preventing democratic breakdown” and “preventing democratic erosion”, correspond, in the first case, to the sudden shift from liberal or electoral democracy to authoritarian regime and, in the second case, to a slow decay of liberal democracy, changing it into an electoral one. It is here relevant to highlight that, in both of these cases, democratic consolidation is seen in a “backward looking” way, which consists in asserting a democracy as consolidated only if it is sure that it does not incur current or predictable threats. Indeed, A. Schedler kind of rejects the “forward looking” way of approaching democratic consolidation. [...]

[...] This distrust in “official” actors is most of the time counterbalanced with a high level of trust in others collective actors, such as the media, the trade unions which are not affiliated with political parties or the Catholic Church (it is, actually, a characteristic of Poland, as the trust in this “institution” is much smaller in other CEECs, and especially the Czech Republic). As a result from the distrust in “official actors”, the democratic consciousness in the CEECs seems to be quite fluctuant. [...]

[...] This question is at the core of our work, as it is essential to precise the nature of the consolidation of democracy before interrogating on the CEECs democracies' consolidated aspect. The nature of democratic consolidation will thus be the theme of our first part. Then, we will try to find out, according to the perspectives of this theoretical introduction and on the basis of Commission reports and other studies, whether the CEECs can be considered as consolidated democracies or not. [...]

[...] The role of the European Union in the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe What is meant by the consolidation of democracy? Are the CEEC consolidated democracies? Discuss theoretical perspectives and the democratic consolidation of (one of) the CEECs. In the concept of consolidation of democracy two aspects can lead to misunderstanding. Firstly, one can interrogate on the direction towards which such a consolidation is supposed to tend, as the word consolidation implies that democracy already exists, as something is bound to exist if it is in a consolidation phase. [...]

[...] As far as other improvements in the social and economic situation which have been emphasized on by A. Schedler as possible means for sustaining the capacity of a state to resist to threats such as democratic erosion or breakdown, we can sat that the Czech Republic has made important efforts in order to reinforce the legitimacy of the democratic state towards its citizens. Indeed, many reforms have been achieved in the field of the judiciary, as well as in the fight against corruption and degrading treatments by the police. [...]