Perception dynamics in democracy promotion: Exploring the EU’s external image and its impact on diplomatic practices

It is often argued that the EU needs to be credible in the eyes of its targets to be effective in protecting and promoting democracy elsewhere. Yet, we know little about how the EU’s external image is understood by EU officials themselves, how it corresponds to the image of the EU’s partners, and how the respective EU images shape the policy actions of both the EU and its partners. Building on research on external perceptions and the ’practice turn’, we examine the images associated with EU democracy promotion that are prevalent within the EU institutions and among its partners from the post-Soviet world. We first develop a theoretical framework for exploring how European practices of democracy promotion are shaped by how diplomatic agents believe their activities and their motivations are perceived externally. We then study this question through a mixed-methods design, including Q-methodology, quantitative survey and qualitative interviews with relevant EU officials and their Eastern counterparts. We expect the influence of external perceptions on democracy promotion practices to depend on the EU’s leverage over the third country and its openness to change. This study contributes to a consolidated, shared understanding of what democracy promotion can and should be in the Eastern Neighbourhood, and beyond.