EU's democracy promotion in Turkey
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Beschreibung
The European Union, as a regional actor and an example of stability and
well-being, has embraced a set of principles it has stood for and which constitute
its own identity. The diffusion of these values among third countries
is one of the objectives of EU’s External Policy. Democracy can be found
among those principles that are sought to be exported through comprehensive
and complex strategies within different frameworks, such as neighbourhood
relations, trade partnerships and the accession process. Focusing on
the latter, candidates are object of an intensive process of Europeanisation
that operates through different mechanisms, like socialisation and conditionality.
Turkey, on the other side, has decided to apply for full membership several
decades ago and, ever since, it has been object of pressure to Europeanise,
which includes improving its unstable democracy. This case, however, is
different from all other previous enlargements; for its special socio-cultural
and civilisational features, Turkey constitutes a more complex novelty for the
European Union.
Therefore, this work aims study the influence of the European Union
on the democratisation process of Turkey, focusing on the period ranging
between 1999, the year the European Council recognised Turkey’s candidacy
status, and 2009 that marks the 10-year period of that condition. It is the
intention of this project to assess the impact of the European Union at
that level through the study of the democratic evolution of the country and
its co-relation with some independent variables related to the presence or
pressure of the EU.
As this is a challenging objective, in order to achieve it, it will require a
deep reflection upon the central concepts like democracy and democratic
consolidation and a diversified use of methodological techniques, such as
statistical analysis and mathematical co-relations, historical analysis, literature
review, content analysis and in-depth interviews. This study will privilege a
Constructivist approach, emphasising the social construction of reality and
the role of the ideational aspects – identity, perceptions.