Assessing the effectiveness of EU democracy promotion strategies in the ENP: A theoretical framework

The EU has been deploying a number of democracy promotion strategies towards the ENP countries, some with a degree of success and some which have underperformed. One of the main criticisms in the context of these approaches has been their detachment from the demos, i.e., from the actual needs and desires of the populations they target. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of these strategies and at the same time generate a new paradigm for ‘effective democracy’ by bringing in the concept of demos (in terms of enhanced representation and governance of citizenry) at the centre of processes and institutions, and offering a refreshed theoretical framework to reimagine and deepen the role of citizens in governance and decision-making structures. This effort brings together political culture research, debates on democratic innovation, and alignment with citizens’ conceptions and preferences. Operating in a feedback loop, the demos cycle is underpinned by two fundamental assumptions: first, that democratisation is a dynamic process sustained by the continuous interaction between values, norms, procedures and practices; and second, that the cycle has to be cultivated domestically, i.e., through external strategies which are embedded locally and which create a solid foundation for support of and demand for democracy in the recipient countries, from the grassroots up. The argument is that while external actors can contribute to embedding democracy, they cannot be principal drivers of the process. Instead, we propose a collaborative approach of the EU and its eastern neighbours to democratisation.