Deliberative Democracy in the EU. Countering Populism with Participation and Debate. CEPS Paperback

Elections are the preferred way to freely transfer power from one term to the next and from one political party or coalition to another. They are an essential element of democracy. But if the process of power transfer is corrupted, democracy risks collapse. Reliance on voters, civil society organisations and neutral observers to fully exercise their freedoms as laid down in international human rights conventions is an integral part of holding democratic elections. Without free, fair and regular elections, liberal democracy is inconceivable. Elections are no guarantee that democracy will take root and hold, however. If the history of political participation in Europe over the past 800 years is anything to go by, successful attempts at gaining voice have been patchy, while leaders’ attempts to silence these voices and consolidate their own power have been almost constant (Blockmans, 2020). Recent developments in certain EU member states have again shown us that democratically elected leaders will try and use majoritarian rule to curb freedoms, overstep the constitutional limits of their powers, protect the interests of their cronies and recycle themselves through seemingly free and fair elections. In their recent book How Democracies Die, two Harvard professors of politics write: “Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves” (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 2018)

Negative impact of democratic sanctions on authoritarian regime's transition into democracies: Cases studies of Cuba, Iran and Russia

Bakalaura darbā “Demokrātisko sankciju negatīvā ietekme autoritāro režīmu demokrātijas veidošanās procesos: Kubas, Irānas un Krievijas gadījumi” tiek izvērtēta sankciju kā ārpolitikas instrumenta ietekme, veicinot demokrātijas procesu pozitīvu attīstību. Bakalaura darba teorētiskais ietvars ir akadēmiskā literatūra par sankcijām un to efektivitāti, papildus uzmanību pievēršot sankcijām, kas īstenotas, lai veicinātu demokrātisko procesu attīstību. Darba empīriskajā daļā, analizējot sekundāro informāciju par darba tēmu, tiek analizēta korelācija starp sankcijām, to ieviešanas periodu un demokrātisko rādītāju uzlabošanos, meklējot iespējamās cēloņsakarība, sankcijām veicinot pozitīvas vai negatīvas izmaiņas. Analīzes rezultātā tiek secināts, ka demokrātiskās sankcijas dažos gadījumos veicina negatīvu demokrātijas procesu attīstību, tomēr visbiežāk izmaiņas ir ļoti daudzu un dažādu faktoru rezultāts, apgrūtinot konkrētu faktoru identificēšanu. Atslēgvārdi: sankcijas, demokrātija, demokrātijas indekss, Kuba, Irāna, KrievijaAim of the paper “Negative impact of democratic sanctions on authoritarian regime’s transition into democracies: Case studies of Cuba, Iran and Russia” is to evaluate sanctions as a tool in international politics and an extent to which they can promote or hamper democratic progress. Theoretical background consists of literature on the topic of sanctions and their effectiveness, with more attention paid specifically to sanctions that promote democratic changes. The empirical analysis is based on a secondary data analysis; the aim of analysis is to find correlations, which could later be proved to be causations, where sanctions promote positive or negative changes. The analysis proves that democratic sanctions sometimes negatively impact democratic processes, but for the most part changes are caued by many various factors, making it almost impossible to identify specific causes. Keywords: Sanctions, Democracy, Democracy Index, Cuba, Iran, Russi