POL 144A Democratization in Eastern Europe. Research Paper

The effect of Foreign Intervention and Pluralism in the Democracy of Central-Eastern Europe
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Introduction
Political Democratization is the transition through the evolutions of a country from any form of government into a more solid democratic political rule (Lewis, 1997). Eastern Europe has seen different forms of regime changes and the rise of democratic rule like the negotiated democratization of Poland and the evolutionary democratization of Hungary but there is also democratization that followed violent implementations for the country to change like in Yugoslavia and Romania (Lewis, 1997). Although democracy have an extensive effect to the government of another country, the readily observed effect of democracy is pluralism or multiculturalism as a societal norm since the characteristic of a democratic country can readily recognize and accept the coexistence of different interest and lifestyle of other cultures (Lewis, 1997).
Before the transition of some countries of Eastern Europe into democracy, totalitarian rule plagued different countries, which prohibits and oppresses the individual rights of the citizens (Turk, 2014). Additionally, totalitarian regimes often include repression of the public's political will where one person have the absolute control over the freedom of the people as well as the economy of the country (Conquest, 1999). During the Cold War era (1947 – 1991), concepts of anti-totalitarianism in these regions of the world started to urge the people to go against the oppression of the totalitarian regime (Conquest, 1999). After years of struggle, the democratic revolution of some communist countries in Eastern Europe from 1789 to 1989 finally paid off, where they embraced the period of change in their government policy and started the democratization in their countries (Vejvoda, 1995).
After which, the Eastern European countries, then, transitioned to a democratic economy market and capitalism (Turk, 2014). However, after the Cold War, the economic power of these country is significantly weakening, so, one way to survive is to make ties with other countries, especially the democratic countries in Western Europe, which influences democratization (Levitsky & Way, 2005).
According to Lewis (2001), political parties were not significant in affecting the early stages of the transition of democratization in Eastern Europe. This democratization trend of Eastern Europe follows the waves of democracy, where surges of democratization shifts the distribution of powers to the people that give different form of benefits and incentive from the changes of democratic reforms (Lewis, 2001).
Although democratization can be caused by an array of varying factors like civil society, economic development, class structure, education, and political culture, the effect of foreign intervention, such as the promotion of democracy by other countries and membership of international organizations, and the effect of recognizing diversity within the political body, such as the promotion of pluralism or multiculturalism, should be further studied since democracy promotion has become and major tool for spreading of a foreign country's political power, economic expansion and social order into another, which then affected the acceptance of multiple cultural values and diversity. Additionally, the role of membership on international organizations, such as the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), had made their own contributions in spreading democratic policies and reforms to a country, especially those that are member from Eastern Europe (Risse, 2009).
Literature Review
In the study of Risse (2009), Conclusions: Towards Transatlantic Democracy Promotion, international organizations are one of the major keys in the promotion of democracy in our world. The European Union (EU), in particular, greatly affected the spread of democracy in the totality of Europe due to the common compliance of the member countries. Added by Risse (2009), the EU help transitioning countries from an authoritarian regime into a more democratic government. The EU promotes the benefits of transitioning into a democratic rule, including the greater good of the citizens security and great stability of the economy. Also, the EU promotes that democracy's adherence in honoring the human rights as a set of irrevocable policies that are linked to democracy (Risse, 2009). This effort of the EU leads the European countries, including Eastern Europe, to undergo democratization process and reap the advantages of democracy.
In the study of Pevehouse (2002), Democracy from the Outside-In? International Organizations and Democratization, the ability of international organizations to recruit other post-communist countries are directly correlated with these country's transition into democracy from 1950 to 1992. This transition is evident of the direct influence of foreign powers in democratization process.
In the study of Levitsy & Way (2005), International Linkage and Democracy, towards the end of the Cold War and the fall of different totalitarian regimes, different Eastern European countries had no other alternatives in creating form of government or another regime (Levitsky & Way, 2005). Additionally, the military and economic power of these country are slowly depleting and significantly weakening, so, one way for a country to survive is to make ties with other countries, especially the democratic countries in Western Europe, thus, the influence of foreign countries created an external source of democratizing pressure on post-authoritarian countries (Levitsky & Way, 2005). Added by Levitsky & Way (2005), those Eastern European countries that made ties with Western European countries are more likely to went through the process of democratization than those Eastern European countries that did not made ties. Instead, these countries that had neglected the benefits of making bonds with Western Europe developed a competitive authoritarian regime, where the countries had competitive elections but abused the democratic process by the competing political parties.
In the study of Drache & Froese (2006), Globalization, World Trade and the Cultural Commons: Identity, Citizenship and Pluralism, the sharing of different cultures plays a role in the process of globalization. World trading by many government and international institutions also simultaneously trade the national identity, including democracy, of groups of people to other groups. This fosters acceptance and of different cultures in the public sphere that promotes pluralism in a country. Also, culture is significant in building social relations among other people and communities, which also intersect the different perceptions of the public towards the systematic examination of another group.
In the study of Plattner (2010), Populism, Pluralism, and Liberal Democracy, the declining appeal of democratic regime pushed the non-democratic regimes to undervalue the democratic values but democracy show resilience through the balance between the rule to the majority with the corresponding rights of the minority. Radical pluralism promotes the assurance that all voice will be heard not just the majority. The importance of democracy is evident in the comfort of the people in practicing their cultural norms without the limitations of the law as well as appreciating the culture of other people without judgement, discrimination or prejudice.
Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between the foreign intervention and Democracy.
Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between pluralism and Democracy.
The Country Cases
Table 1. Descriptive Cases of each Central-Eastern European countries
Country

International Membership

Pluralism Score (2019)

Democracy Index (2019)

Estonia

EU and NATO

9.58

7.9

Latvia

EU and NATO

9.58

7.49

Lithuania

EU and NATO

9.58

7.50

Poland

EU and NATO

9.17

6.62

Czech Republic

EU and NATO

9.58

7.69

Slovakia

EU and NATO

9.58

7.17

Hungary

EU and NATO

8.75

6.63

Romania

EU and NATO

9.17

6.49

Bulgaria

EU and NATO

9.17

7.03

Slovenia

EU and NATO

9.58

7.50

Croatia

EU and NATO

9.17

6.57

Albania

NATO

7.00

5.89

Montenegro

NATO

5.67

5.56

Serbia

None

8.25

6.41

North Macedonia

None

7.00

5.97

Bosnia And Herzegovina

None

6.17

4.86

In table 1, the country cases included are the international membership of each country, the pluralism score, and the democracy index. Since the research dependent variable is about democracy, the democracy index of each country was gathered to see what is the level of democracy in each country of Central-Eastern Europe (Kekic, 2007). The index was taken from Democracy Index (2019). The international membership was chosen as the representative of the foreign intervention since these countries needs to abide the rules of each international organization including the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The data was taken from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2019). This will serve as quantitative data in looking at the relationship international membership in the level of democracy by correlating the number of international memberships with democracy index. Last is the pluralism score that measures the country's average pluralism based on the recognition and acceptance of different cultures and values. The data was taken from Democracy Index (2019). Based from the review of related literature, pluralism and foreign influence has significant relationship. The relationship of pluralism and democracy can then be observed using this data.
Key Phenomenon (Democracy Index)
The democracy index, generated by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), is the measurement of democracy of each country, regardless of its government type, using five factors, which includes: the electoral process, civil liberties, functioning of the government, political participation, and political culture (Kekic, 2007). These five factors serve as the basis of the total value of the democracy index. The electoral process includes the complexity of being qualified to vote; Civil liberties are the guarantee of the government to ensure the civil rights and freedom of a person to exercise his/her own rights; Functioning of the government is the way on how the government is ran by the public officials; Political participation is the number of people participating in every electi...