Russia, EU and the Post-Soviet Democratic Failure (Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft)

By studying the influence of the two main external actors in post-Soviet space, the EU and Russia, this study contributes to the increasing body of literature that studies the causes of democratic recession and authoritarian backlash in post-Soviet states and the role of regional actors in these processes. Empirically, the study finds the EU to be both a democracy-promoting and democracy-hindering actor in post-Soviet states. Russia's impact, on the other hand, is far more negative than the literature on democratization and autocracy promotion typically suggests. It negatively affects both the quality of democracy of post-Soviet states and limits the EU's options for promoting democracy in its neighborhood. Content Regime outcomes and degree of democracy in the post-Soviet states Domestic prerequisites for democratization Russia, EU and their vulnerable neighbors: Measuring the external leverage in the post-Soviet states Between neighborhood and colony: European and Russian strategies in the post-Soviet space Direct external influence: Elections in the post-Soviet states Target Groups Scholars and students of democratization, European politics, Europeanization and post-Soviet politics Policy practitioners working on democratization, post-Soviet region, European foreign policy, ENP, EaP and Russian foreign policy Author Bidzina Lebanidze is Research Associate at the University of Bremen and Associate Professor (of International Relations) at the Ilia State University Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 1-16 State of the art (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 17-26 Institutionalist theoretical framework (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 27-54 Research design (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 55-70 Regime outcomes and degree of democracy in the post-Soviet states (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 71-84 Domestic prerequisites for democratization (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 85-109 Measuring the external leverage in the post-Soviet states (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 111-124 European and Russian strategies in the post-Soviet space (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 125-190 Direct external influence: Elections in the post-Soviet states (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 191-245 Conclusions (Bidzina Lebanidze)....Pages 247-272 Back Matter ....Pages 273-329