Crrc 2009

In recent years, competitive authoritarianism has become an increasingly common form of non-democratic politics. What is the relationship between the demand for particular public policies and a regime’s durability in office in such cases? How does policy-making interact with organizational power, the willingness to resort to coercion and patronage politics in countries home to democratic-looking institutions that none the less fall short of democratic standards? In this book we show that such regimes do more than just survive and collapse. Moreover, we argue that far from being passive pawns in the hands of their leaders voters in competitive authoritarian regimes, do matter are taken seriously. We investigate how regimes and voters interact in the cases of Georgia and Armenia, two post-Soviet countries in the South Caucasus, to identify how voters preferences feed into policy-making and gauge the extent to which the regimes’ adjustment of their policies crucially affects regime stability. To these ends, we draw on a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a survey experiment carried out in the two countries. The volume was originally published as a special issue of the journal Caucasus Survey.

How have discourses of Euro-Atlanticism been used in domestic and international affairs by the political elite in Georgia? After the 2003 Rose Revolution, as relations with Russia soured, a Euro-Atlantic orientation portrayed as a single and coherent strategy became the cornerstone of Georgian foreign policy as well as a model for domestic reforms. This promise of a prosperous future offered new hope to the Georgian population. Scepticism or critical thinking towards President Saakashvili and his government were equated to pro-Russian treason and pro-western orientation and impressive reforms, promoted as being modelled along ’European standards’, emerged simultaneously with an outspoken rhetoric and active symbolism. References to Europe and the Euro-Atlantic structures became ubiquitous as European flags were brandished throughout the country. Addressing a gap in the existing literature the author examines a large volume of data extracted from news items from 20 different Georgian and International media channels over a ten-year period. Through this he identifies patterns in the discourse to explain the intentions of the Georgian elite and examines the effectiveness of the rhetoric.

This book provides a multi-level analysis of international security in the South Caucasus. Using an expanded and adapted version of Regional Security Complex Theory, it studies both material conditions and discourses of insecurity in its assessment of the region's possible transition towards a more peaceable future.

This book assesses the instruments and measures geared towards determining the EU's relations with it's neighbours. These are channelled on the one hand by the enlargement policy focusing on the Western Balkans and on the other hand by the neighbourhood policy which will enable the integration of Central and Eastern European neighbouring countries without offering membership. Both of these policies have strong local and regional effects in the EU's neighbouring countries. However, little attention has been paid to the perceptions of and impact of these policies in the neighbouring countries themselves. By presenting theoretical contributions and empirical case studies drawing on qualitative and ethnographic fieldwork, this book provides new insights that will be of great interest for students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of Geography, Sociology, Political Science and European Studies.

Since 1995, the Nations in Transit series has monitored the status of democratic change from Central Europe to Eurasia and pinpointed for policymakers, researchers, journalists, and democracy advocates alike the greatest reform challenges and reform opportunities facing the countries and territories that make up this vast geographic space. Covering 29 countries and administrative areas, Nations in Transit 2010 provides comparative ratings and in-depth analysis of electoral processes, civil society, independent media, national democratic governance, local democratic governance, judicial framework & independence, and corruption. Freedom House--which for more than a quarter century has rated global political rights and civil liberties in its benchmark Freedom in the World surveys--has developed a ratings system that allows for comparative analysis of reforms. Nations in Transit findings have drawn important linkages between democratic accountability, good governance, and the rule of law. In doing so it has made clear the essential nature of all these elements to the development of stable, free, and prosperous societies. The results are incisive, authoritative, and comprehensive.