Democracy assistance policies of the European Union in the Balkans and the backsliding of democracy: The case of Albania

Abstract

Why is there a reverse development with widespread expectations about democratization in the Balkans, despite the European Union's (EU) policies of democracy assistance? Existing literature suggests that the EU's enlargement policy supports the democratization process in the Balkans, but the outcome of the EU's democracy assistance policies is determined by the internal characteristics of the countries in the region. However, recent research has drawn attention to the limitations of the EU's democracy assistance policies. Drawing on a critical political-economy perspective, the article examines how the EU's democracy assistance policies affected the democratization process in the Albanian case. This article argues that the EU's democracy assistance policies in the Balkans are constrained by the neoliberal model it promotes in the region. Based on the assumption that the neoliberal accumulation strategy supported by the EU restricts the democratization process, the article demonstrates how the state-society-market relationship in Albania is shaped by the neoliberal priorities of international institutions and actors. The article concludes that the democracy assistance provided by the EU within the framework of its enlargement policies is limited to the implementation of the neoliberal model and that the ideology of Europeanization serves to naturalize the neoliberal accumulation strategy.

Keywords

• Neoliberalism
• Democratization
• EU’s democracy assistance policies
• Europeanisation
• Albania

Balkanlarda Avrupa Birliği’nin Demokrasi Teşviki Politikalarının Sınırlılıkları: Yakınsama ve Yol Ayrımı Arasında Arnavutluk

Abstract

Avrupa Birliği’nin (AB) demokrasi teşvik politikalarına rağmen, Balkanlar’da demokratikleşme beklentilerine ters yönde bir gelişme yaşanmasının nedeni nedir? Mevcut literatür, AB’nin genişleme politikasının Balkanlar’daki demokratikleşme sürecini desteklediğini, ancak AB’nin demokrasi teşvik politikalarının sonucunun, bölgedeki ülkelerin iç özelliklerine göre belirlendiğini öne sürmektedir. Ancak, son araştırmalar AB’nin demokrasi teşvik politikalarının sınırlılıklarını vurgulamıştır. Bu makale, eleştirel bir ekonomi politik perspektifle, AB’nin demokrasi teşvik politikalarının Arnavutluk örneğinde demokratikleşme sürecini nasıl etkilediğini incelemektedir. Temel olarak, makale AB’nin Balkanlar’daki demokrasi teşvik politikalarının, bölgede teşvik ettiği neoliberal model tarafından kısıtlandığını savunmaktadır. Makale, AB’nin desteklediği neoliberal birikim stratejisinin demokratikleşme süreciyle ilişkisini analiz ederek, Arnavutluk’taki sosyo-ekonomik ve siyasi yapıların, uluslararası kurumlar ve aktörlerin neoliberal politikaları çerçevesinde nasıl şekillendiğini göstermektedir. Son olarak, makale AB’nin demokrasi teşvik stratejisinin neoliberal modelin uygulanmasıyla sınırlı olduğunu ve Avrupalılaşma ideolojisinin neoliberal birikim stratejisinin doğallaştırılmasına hizmet ettiğini öne sürmektedir.

Keywords

• Neoliberalizm
• Demokratikleşme
• AB
• Avrupalılaşma
• Arnavutluk

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