The limits of EU liberal norm diffusion: a quest for ‘better democracy’?
Özet
This study explores the extent to which the EU has diffused liberal
and democratic norms across its new members and its periphery in
a context of the EU’s liberal norm diffusion on the one hand, and
the populist backlash towards liberalism on the other. We measure
these norms via the International Social Survey Program Citizenship
modules and levels of democracy via the Varieties of Democracy
Project’s liberal democracy index. We posit that while liberalism has
become near synonymous with democracy, and despite findings
that affirm the EU’s influence on liberal norm diffusion, the EU’s lack
of consideration of alternative republican and communitarian
norms has slowed down the process of democratic consolidation.
These findings have policy implications especially for Hungary and
Poland, where democratic erosion is evident, and for EU candidate
states, Türkiye and Georgia, where, in the accession process, the
EU’s liberal bias prevails over alternative democratic norms.
