Evaluating democratic governance: a bottom up approach to European Union enlargement

Evaluation demokratischen Regierens: ein Ansatz für die EU-Erweiterung
[working paper]

Corporate Editor
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH

Abstract

"Although analyses of democracy and governance may be complementary rather than in conflict, they are not identical. This article compares the EU criteria for evaluating applicants for membership with those of democracy indexes. It uses data from the 13-country New Europe Barometer surveys of public... view more

"Although analyses of democracy and governance may be complementary rather than in conflict, they are not identical. This article compares the EU criteria for evaluating applicants for membership with those of democracy indexes. It uses data from the 13-country New Europe Barometer surveys of public opinion to provide a bottom up evaluation of democratic governance in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Ukraine. The results are compared, point by point, with the minimum evaluation of governance in the eight Central and East European countries admitted to the EU in 2004. Factor analysis confirms statistically that these measures are multi-dimensional; in other words, democratic governance cannot be reduced to a one-dimensional index of democracy. The conclusion emphasizes the advantages of thinking in terms of democratic governance not only for diagnosing and prescribing governmental reforms but also for academics monitoring democratization as a process that may only be partially successful." (author's abstract)... view less

Keywords
post-socialist country; decision making criterion; Bulgaria; public opinion; index construction; Romania; Ukraine; joining the European Union; eastwards expansion; Croatia; governance; EU expansion; democracy; developing country; USSR successor state

Classification
Political System, Constitution, Government
European Politics

Method
descriptive study

Document language
English

Publication Year
2007

City
Berlin

Page/Pages
27 p.

Series
Discussion Papers / Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Forschungsschwerpunkt Arbeit, Sozialstruktur und Sozialstaat, Abteilung Ungleichheit und soziale Integration, 2007-201

Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications

Data providerThis metadata entry was indexed by the Special Subject Collection Social Sciences, USB Cologne