Rethinking Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
This book seeks to inject fresh thinking into the debate on democratic deterioration in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), viewing democratic backsliding through the prism of a range of cases beyond Hungary and Poland, to redress the imbalance in current scholarship.
Over the past decade a consensus has emerged that democracy in CEE is sharply deteriorating, perhaps even backsliding into new forms of authoritarianism. Debate has, however, so far focused disproportionately on the two most dramatic and surprising cases: Hungary and Poland. This book reflects on the backsliding debate through the experience of CEE countries such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as neighbouring post-communist regions such as the Western Balkans and former Soviet Union (cases such as Moldova and Ukraine), whose patterns of failing or partial democratisation may be newly instructive for analysing the development of CEE. Contributors present less frequently considered perspectives on democratic backsliding in the CEE region, such as the role of oligarchisation and wealth concentration; the potential of ethnographical approaches to democracy evaluation; the trade-offs between democratic quality and democratic stability; and the long-term interplay between social movements, state-building, and democratisation.
This book was originally published as a special issue of East European Politics.
Licia Cianetti is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. She is interested in how democracy works in ethnoculturally divided societies. She is currently working on the project What happened to the multicultural city? Effects of nativism and austerity, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. She is the author of The Quality of Divided Democracies: Minority Inclusion, Exclusion and Representation in the New Europe (2019).
James Dawson is a Lecturer in Politics at Coventry University, UK. His research has focused on the challenges of democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on the clash between liberal and ethnic nationalist ideas. His book Cultures of Democracy in Serbia and Bulgaria: How Ideas Shape Publics (2014) was awarded the BASEES (British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies) George Blazyca Prize.
Sean Hanley is an Associate Professor in Comparative Central and Eastern Europe Politics at UCL, UK. His published research covers topics such as party government and its alternatives, the rise of anti-establishment parties, and democratic backsliding in Central Europe. He has a special interest in Czech politics and is author of The New Right in the New Europe: Czech Transformation and Right-Wing Politics, 1989-2006 (2007).
Rethinking Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by
Licia Cianetti, James Dawson and Sean Hanley
First published 2019
by Routledge
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Chapters 1, 35, 7 2019 Taylor & Francis
Chapter 2 2018 Antoaneta L. Dimitrova. Originally published as Open Access.
Chapter 6 2018 Florian Bieber. Originally published as Open Access.
With the exception of Chapters 2 and 6, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. For details on the rights for Chapters 2 and 6, please see the chapters Open Access footnotes.
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ISBN13: 978-0-367-21000-7
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Contents
Licia Cianetti, James Dawson and Sean Hanley
Antoaneta L. Dimitrova
Sean Hanley and Milada Anna Vachudova
James Dawson
Licia Cianetti
Florian Bieber
Eleanor Knott
The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018). When citing this material, please use the original page numbering for each article, as follows:
Chapter 1
Rethinking democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe looking beyond Hungary and Poland
Licia Cianetti, James Dawson and Sen Hanley
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 243256
Chapter 2
The uncertain road to sustainable democracy: elite coalitions, citizen protests and the prospects of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe
Antoaneta L. Dimitrova
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 257275
Chapter 3
Understanding the illiberal turn: democratic backsliding in the Czech Republic
Sen Hanley and Milada Anna Vachudova
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 276296
Chapter 4
Everyday Democracy: an ethnographic methodology for the evaluation of (de-) democratisation
James Dawson
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 297316
Chapter 5
Consolidated technocratic and ethnic hollowness, but no backsliding: reassessing Europeanisation in Estonia and Latvia
Licia Cianetti
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 317336
Chapter 6
Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans
Florian Bieber
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 337354
Chapter 7
Perpetually partly free: lessons from post-soviet hybrid regimes on backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
Eleanor Knott
East European Politics, volume 34, issue 3 (September 2018) pp. 355376
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Florian Bieber is a Professor of Southeast European History and Politics, and the Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, Austria. He is the coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). His areas of research include interethnic relations, ethnic conflict, and nationalism.
