Comparing Western Democratic Leverage: From Tirana to Tripoli

What are the conditions under which external actors positively influence de- mocratization? A growing literature analyzes the external dimension of de- mocratization, focusing, for instance, on the power of EU enlargement con- ditionality to spur democratic reform in the post-communist world, and es...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politička misao 2013-01, Vol.50 (5), p.189-203
Main Author: Boduszynski, Mieczyslaw P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Balkan States
Conditionality
Democracy
Democratization
Egypt
EU enlargement
Europe
European Union
Influence
North Africa
Political Integration
Political Power
Post-communist societies
Postcommunist Societies
Regime transition
Resistance
Revolutions
Third-party intervention
Transitions
Values
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Summary:What are the conditions under which external actors positively influence de- mocratization? A growing literature analyzes the external dimension of de- mocratization, focusing, for instance, on the power of EU enlargement con- ditionality to spur democratic reform in the post-communist world, and especially the Balkans. This paper compares the effect of Western leverage over transitions in the Balkans and the Arab Spring countries. Western demo- cratic leverage is a function of external power and internal vulnerability to ex- ternal democratizing pressure, but it is also related to factors such as Western political will, the influence of countervailing external powers, and nationalist resistance. The article demonstrates that on all of these dimensions, Western democratic leverage over the Arab Spring countries is significantly lower than it has been over the Balkan states, and thus that the prospects for democratiza- tion in states such as Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia are dimmer. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0032-3241
1846-8721