Eu’s policy of conditionality and its impact on Democratic consolidation in georgia and Ukraine
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Date
2023
Authors
Hudziuk, Liliia
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Abstract
The thesis is devoted to the impact of the EU’s conditionality policy on the process of democratic consolidation in Georgia and Ukraine from 2014 to 2022. The following paper uses case study as a method to answer the research question. This work consists of five chapters and conclusions. The first chapter discusses the research topic, defines the purpose of the research, and provides a literature review on the topic. The second chapter outlines the theoretical basis of the research. The third chapter examines the research method and presents an operationalized structure of analysis based on the model of democratic consolidation by Linz and Stepan as well as the external incentives model by F. Schimmelfennig and U. Sedelmeier. The fourth chapter is devoted to the analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in Georgia and Ukraine based on the operationalized model of democratic consolidation by H. Linz and A. Stepan. The fifth chapter evaluates the effectiveness of the EU conditionality policy using the operationalized model of external incentives by F. Schimmelfennig and U. Sedelmeier. The research showed that Ukraine has been slightly more successful in consolidating its democracy than Georgia due to a better consolidated civil society, more ambitious EU conditionality policy and less pervasive influence of veto players on the political life of the country. While Ukraine’s party system is characterized by pluralism, in Georgia most power is concentrated in the hands of one party "Georgian Dream" under the influence of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, which ultimately led to the gradual deterioration of all indices of democracy. The effectiveness of the EU conditionality policy has not been fully exhausted due to the lack of a clear membership perspective, new incentives, punishment mechanisms for failure to implement reforms, as well as clear criteria and indicators for evaluating the progress. On the part of the target countries, the effectiveness of the EU’s policy of conditionality is weakened by the influence of veto players on political life, the unfavorable geopolitical and domestic situation, as well as availability of alternative rewards with lower adoption costs and losses for the government in power.
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the purpose of the study, promotion of democracy, consolidation, master thesis