Democrats without Democracy?
Abstract
Studies on the diffusion of norms generally argue that strong ties between transition countries and established democracies decisively foster political transformation. In doing so,
they take for granted that agent attitudes and preferences are (re-)shaped by exposure to norms, but fail to empirically scrutinize this socialization effect. External democratization by
linkage has so far only been explored at the aggregate level of states and on transition countries already moving ahead with democracy. This paper aims at filling this lacuna by examining
whether linkage to ‘the West’ transfers democratic rules and practices into Arab authoritarian regimes hitherto resistant to political liberalization. It explores whether social and
communication ties to established democracies can create important domestic stakeholders for democratic change by transforming state officials into democrats within a non-democratic polity.
In order to directly examine attitudes rather than infer them from behavior, an original scale has been developed that measures the degree of agreement with democratic norms of governance.
Empirically, the argument is tested on Morocco’s linkage to Europe using data from a unique survey among state officials. The results challenge the linkage models’ assumption that attitudes
are shaped by exposure to norms. Show more
Publication status
publishedJournal / series
NCCR Working PaperVolume
(37)Publisher
NCCR DemocracySubject
Arab authoritarian regimes; democratic governance; democratization; European Union; linkage; public administration; international socializationOrganisational unit
03714 - Schimmelfennig, Frank / Schimmelfennig, Frank
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