The starting point of the project is the observation that, in some EU member states, democratically elected governments have restricted the political rights of citizens and opposition parties in favor of their own power interests over the past two decades. “The most drastic examples of this in the EU are the Fidesz government in Hungary and the PiS government in Poland,” explains Professor Arndt Wonka. Although the EU has legal and political means to take action against such a democratic backslide, it has been hesitant to do so for a long time.
As a first step, the project is investigating how political parties in six EU member states – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria – react to EU interventions. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are being used. The aim is to analyze the political disputes between parties in states with different experiences of democratic backlashes: countries with significant democratic deficits (Hungary, Poland), those facing current challenges (Slovakia), and those without democratic backlashes (Germany, the Netherlands, Austria).
In a second step, the project will explore how parties' framing of debates on EU action influences citizens' opinions. To do this, quantitative survey experiments will be conducted in the six countries being studied.
Professor Wonka on the project's aim: “We want to understand the resistance or support that EU interventions encounter and under what conditions these interventions can strengthen or weaken parties in EU member states that are working to restore democratic rights.”
The project “The Domestic Politics of EU Action against Democratic Backsliding (DEUDEM)” is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of its WEAVE funding line. The cooperating partners are Professor Michael Blauberger from the University of Salzburg and Professor Aleksandra Maatsch from the University of Wroclaw. The project will end in 2028.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Arndt Wonka
University of Bremen
Faculty 08: Social Sciences
Institute of European Studies
wonkaprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
