14 research outputs found
Coming full circle: Differential empowerment in the EU accession process
The EU accession process brings a profound transformation not only to candidate countries’
institutions and policies, but also to the political opportunity structure in place, creating new
possibilities for previously marginalised actors. Studying the differential empowerment of
NGOs throughout the Croatian accession process, this paper makes two related claims: first,
differential empowerment depends crucially on domestic actors’ awareness for and ability to
use new opportunities to their advantage. Second, an overreliance on EU leverage poses
important temporal and substantive limits on NGO empowerment and leads to a rapid decline
of their relevance in the post-accession phase. I argue that a more sustainable shift in the
domestic power balance would require both the EU and domestic civil society actors to place
more emphasis on fostering improved practices of civil society inclusion in domestic policymaking
settings throughout the accession process
Strategies for Integration in the EU's Pre-Accession Process: Reshaping Party Positions and State Institutions
Strategies for Integration in the EU's Pre-Accession Process: Reshaping Party Positions and State Institutions
Do expert surveys produce consistent estimates of party stances on European integration? Comparing expert surveys in the difficult case of Central and Eastern Europe
Expert surveys have been subject to a number of criticisms concerning their ability to produce accurate estimates of party positions. Such criticisms have particular prima facie credibility in new post-Communist democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, where party development is regarded as weak. This paper compares data from two expert surveys independently conducted between 2002 and 2004. We find, contrary to expectations, that there is a remarkable overlap in positions assigned to parties. This suggests the usefulness of expert surveys even in the 'most difficult' case of post-Communist party systems. It also suggests that parties in these countries have developed effective means of communicating their positions on major issues