Democratization and the european Union - Comparing Central and Eastern European post-communist countries

This book examines in depth the impact of the EU on aspects of the quality of democracy in eight selected post-communist countries. Considering both the political and legal aspects of the dynamics among institutions and focussing on inter-institutional accountability, the book analyses how constitutional designs have been effectively implemented to achieve this, and to what extent this was the result of EU action. In order to make a comparative assessment of the EU on democracies, the book features detailed case studies according to their different status vis-à-vis the EU, including older new member states: Poland and Hungary; newer new member states: Romania and Bulgaria; potential candidates: Albania and Serbia; and neighbour and remote neighbour states: Ukraine and Armenia. Each chapter addresses a range of dimensions and most relevant domains of inter-institutional accountability, that is: executive-legislative relationships; constitutional justice; decentralisation and regionalism; and the role of ombudsman or other relevant authorities. Seeking to assess how important the role of the EU has been in influencing the modes and characteristic of democracies and fundamental rights established in these regions, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, EU politics, Post-communist studies and democratization studies.

1. Introduction Leonardo Morlino and Wojciech Sadurski Part 1: "Old-new" Member States 2. Poland: EU Driven Democracy? Adam Bodnar 3. Hungary: High Hopes Revisited Renata Uitz Part 2: "New-new" Member States 4. Romania: A Personalistic Approach to Accountability Alina Stanciulescu 5. Bulgaria: Discontents and Frustrations of a Newly-Consolidated Democracy Daniel Smilov Part 3: Potential Candidate and Neighbour Countries 6. Serbia in Search of Stability and Accountability Cristina Dallara and Irena Marceta 7. Albania and its Struggle to Consolidate Democracy Darinka Piqani 8. Ukraine: A Constitutional Design Between Façade Democracy and Effective Transformation? Oleksandr Serdiuk and Roman Petrov 9. Armenia: Constitutional Design, Accountability and European Integration Armen Mazmanyan 10. Conclusions Leonardo Morlino and Wojciech Sadurski. Bibliography