Same Ingredients, Different Recipes: EU Leverage and Democratic Backsliding in New Member States and Candidate Countries

Abstract

This panel tackles dynamics and patterns of democratic backsliding in the wider EU enlargement region. Covering both new EU member states and candidate countries, the panel examines the causes of backsliding and questions the EU’s ability to respond adequately to this phenomenon with its current toolbox. The individual papers adopt a comparative perspective that brings together Europeanisation research with a thorough examination of domestic factors and the role of party politics in accounting for the onset and persistence of democratic backsliding. It feeds into the ongoing debate about the illiberal turn in Central and Eastern Europe by making both theoretical and empirical insights into this discussion.