Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T09:21:37.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

European political parties’ complicity in democratic backsliding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2021

FABIO WOLKENSTEIN Open the ORCID record for FABIO WOLKENSTEIN [Opens in a new window]
FABIO WOLKENSTEIN*
Affiliation:
Aarhus Universitet Institut for Statskundskab, Political Science, Bartholins Allé 7, Aarhus, DK8000 and Universiteit van Amsterdam Faculteit der Maatschappij–en Gedragswetenschappen, Political Science, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, Amsterdam, Netherlands, NL1012 DL
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article discusses the contribution of European political parties to democratic backsliding. It focuses on the European People’s Party’s efforts to protect the Hungarian government, and the European Conservatives and Reformists party’s permissive acceptance of the Polish government’s attacks on democracy and the rule of law, analysing these patterns of behaviour as a form of complicity in democratic backsliding. In a second step, the article examines the existing possibilities and normative justification for sanctioning European political parties that make a complicit contribution to democratic backsliding.

Keywords

complicitydemocratic backslidingEuropean political partiesHungarymilitant democracyPoland
Type
Research Article
Information
Global Constitutionalism , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 55 - 82
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akkerman, Tjitske, de Lange, Sarah L. and Rooduijn, Matthijs. (eds.) 2016. Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe: Into the Mainstream? Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Alemanno, Alberto and Pech, Laurent. 2019. ‘Holding European Political Parties Accountable: Testing the Horizontal EU Values Compliance Mechanism’. VerfBlog, available at <https://verfassungsblog.de/holding-european-political-parties-accountable-testing-the-horizontal-eu-values-compliance-mechanism>..>Google Scholar
Bánkuti, Mikos, Halmai, Gábor and Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2012. ‘Disabling the Constitution’. Journal of Democracy 21(3):138–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbière, Cécile. 2015. ‘Daul: “Orbán is the ‘Enfant Terrible’ of the EPP Family, but I Like Him”’. Euractiv, available at: <https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/interview/daul-orban-is-the-enfant-terrible-of-the-epp-family-but-i-like-him>..>Google Scholar
Bayer, L. 2020. EPP’s Illiberal Rebels Lay Out Political Vision. Politico, available at <https://www.politico.eu/article/epp-rebels-lay-out-political-vision-viktor-orban-janez-jansa-aleksandar-vucic/?fbclid=IwAR35sXnu22jRZOqzNv6lPGXQe6lTMfKGqEr1PIzO2ODJkpc_TS_LVboZ8xM>..>Google Scholar
Bermeo, Nancy. 2016. ‘On Democratic Backsliding’. Journal of Democracy 27(1):5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blokker, Paul. 2016. ‘EU Democratic Oversight and Domestic Deviation from the Rule of Law: Sociological Reflections’. In Reinforcing Rule of Law Oversight in the European Union, edited by Closa, Carlos and Kochenov, Dimitry, 249–69. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blokker, Paul. 2019. ‘Populism as a Constitutional Project’. International Journal of Constitutional Law 17(2):535–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourne, Angela and Casal Bértoa, Fernando. 2017. ‘Mapping “Militant Democracy”: Variation in Party Ban Practices in European Democracies (1945–2015)’. European Constitutional Law Review 13:221–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bozóki, András and Hegedüs, Dániel. 2018. ‘An Externally Constrained Hybrid Regime’. Democratization 25(7):1173–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckley, Neil and Foy, Henry. 2016. ‘Poland’s New Government Finds a Model in Orbán’s Hungary’. Financial Times, 6 January.Google Scholar
Bugarič, Bojan. 2016. ‘Protecting Democracy Inside the EU: On Article 7 TEU and the Hungarian Turn to Authoritarianism’. In Reinforcing Rule of Law Oversight in the European Union, edited by Closa, Carlos and Kochenov, Dimitry, 82–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burchardt, Dana. 2019. ‘The Relationship between the Law of the European Union and the Law of its Member States – a Norm-based Conceptual Framework’. European Constitutional Law Review 15:73–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castillo-Ortiz, Pablo. 2019. ‘The Illiberal Abuse of Constitutional Courts in Europe’. European Constitutional Law Review 15:48–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De la Baume, Maia and Bayer, Lili. 2018. ‘Europe’s Center Right Gears Up for Orbán Test’. Politico Europe, available at: <https://www.politico.eu/article/epp-gears-up-for-fidesz-viktor-orban-test-european-parliament>>Google Scholar
EPP Group. 2013. ‘EP Report on Hungary: EPP Group Rejects the Use of Double Standards’, available at: <http://www.eppgroup.eu/press-release/EPP-Group-rejects-the-use-of-double-standards>..>Google Scholar
European Parliament. 2013. ‘Report on the situation of fundamental rights: standards and practices in Hungary (pursuant to the European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2012) (2012/2130(INI))’, available at: <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2013-0229_EN.pdf>>Google Scholar
European Parliament. 2018. ‘Rule of Law in Hungary: Parliament Calls on the EU to Act’, available at: <http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180906IPR12104/rule-of-law-in-hungary-parliament-calls-on-the-eu-to-act>..>Google Scholar
Finlayson, James Gordon. 2019. The Habermas – Rawls Debate. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, John. 2007. Offences and Defences: Selected Essay in the Philosophy of Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Guardian . 2016. ‘Polish President Signs Bill Putting State Media Under Government Control’, available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/07/poland-president-signs-bill-putting-state-media-under-government-control>..>Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1992. Faktizität und Geltung. Beiträge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaats. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Die Einbeziehung des Anderen: Studien zur politischen Theorie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Halmai, Gábor. 2017. National(ist) Constitutional Identity? Hungary’s Road to Abuse Constitutional Pluralism , EUI Working Paper LAW 2017/08:1–16. The Hague: European Union.Google Scholar
Hillion, Christophe. 2016. ‘Overseeing the Rule of Law in the European Union: Legal Mandate and Means’. In Reinforcing Rule of Law Oversight in the European Union, edited by Closa, Carlos and Kochenov, Dimitry, 59–81. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Invernizzi Accetti, Carlo and Zuckerman, Ian. 2017. ‘What’s Wrong with Militant Democracy?’ Political Studies 65(IS): 182–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isiksel, Turkuler 2016. Europe’s Functional Constitution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Journalisten.dk. 2016. ‘DF: Vi skal ikke blande os i Polens medielov’, available at: <https://journalisten.dk/df-vi-skal-ikke-blande-os-i-polens-medielov>..>Google Scholar
Kaiser, Wolfram. 2007. Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karolewski, Ireneusz Pawel and Benedikter, Roland. 2017. ‘Poland’s Conservative Turn and the Role of the European Union. European Political Science 16:515–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelemen, R. Daniel. 2017. ‘Europe’s Other Democratic Deficit: National Authoritarianism in Europe’s Democratic Union’. Government & Opposition 52(2):211–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelemen, R. Daniel. 2020. ‘The European Union’s authoritarian equilibrium’. Journal of European Public Policy 27(3):481–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelsen, Hans. 2006 [1932]. ‘Verteidigung der Demokratie’. In Verteidigung der Demokratie, edited by Jestaedt, Matthias and Lepsius, Oliver, 229–37. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
Klamert, Marcus and Kochenov, Dimitry. 2019. ‘Article 2 TEU’. In The Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary, edited by Kellerbauer, Manuel, Klamert, Marcus and Tomkin, Jonathan, 22–30. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kirchik, James. 2013. ‘EU Conservatives Have a Hungary Problem’. Spiegel Online, 29 May, available at: <http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/hungarian-government-puts-european-conservatives-in-tough-spot-a-902620.html>.Google Scholar
Kochenov, Dimitry. 2014. ‘On Policing Article 2 TEU Compliance: Reverse Solange and Systemic Infringements Analyzed’. Polish Yearbook of International Law 23:145–70.Google Scholar
Krekó, Péter and Enyedi, Zsolt. 2018. ‘Orbán’s Laboratory of Illiberalism’. Journal of Democracy 29(3):39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutz, Christopher. 2000. Complicity: Ethics and Law for a Collective Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lepora, Chiara and Goodin, Robert E. 2015. On Complicity & Compromise. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Meijers, MJ and van der Veer, H. 2019. ‘MEP Responses to Democratic Backsliding in Hungary and Poland: An Analysis of Agenda-Setting and Voting Behaviour’. Journal of Common Market Studies 57(4):838–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Möllers, Chistoph and Linda Schneider. 2018. Demokratiesicherung in der Europäischen Union. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mounk, Yascha. 2018. ‘The Failure of the Centre-Right’. Slate, 4 September, available at: <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/merkel-orban-the-shameful-failure-of-conservatives-to-confront-right-wing-authoritarians.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru>..>Google Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2011. Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2013. Wo Europa endet: Ungarn, Brüssel und das Schicksal der liberalen Demokratie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2015. ‘Should the EU Protect Democracy and the Rule of Law Inside Member States?’. European Law Journal 21(2):141–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2016. ‘Protecting Popular Self-Government from the People? New Normative Perspectives on Militant Democracy’. Annual Review of Political Science 19:249–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa and Inglehart, Ronald. 2019. Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pech, Laurent and Wachowiec, Patryk 2020. ‘1460 Days Later: Rule of Law in Poland R.I.P. (Part 1)’. VerfBlog, 13 January, available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/1460-days-later-rule-of-law-in-poland-r-i-p-part-i>.CrossRef.>Google Scholar
Reuters. 2017a. ‘British PM Says Constitutional Issues a Matter for Individual Countries’, 22 December, available at: <https://www.reuters.com/article/eu-poland-britain/british-pm-may-says-constitutional-issues-a-matter-for-individual-countries-idUSL9N1NR02L>..>Google Scholar
Reuters. 2017b. ‘PM Orban – Hungary will Block Any Punitive EU Action on Poland’, 22 December, available at: <https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-poland-eu-hungary-orban/pm-orban-hungary-will-block-any-punitive-eu-action-on-poland-idUKKBN1EG0MR>..>Google Scholar
Sadurski, Wojciech 2018. ‘Constitutional Crisis in Poland’. In Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?, edited by Graber, MA, Levinson, S and Tushnet, M, 257–76. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2013. ‘Not Your Father’s Authoritarianism: The Creation of the “Frankenstate”’. Newsletter of the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association, Winter: 5–9.Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2016. ‘Can Poland be Sanctioned by the EU? Not Unless Hungary is Sanctioned Too. Verfassungsblog, 24 October, available at: <https://verfassungsblog.de/can-poland-be-sanctioned-by-the-eu-not-unless-hungary-is-sanctioned-too>..>Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2019. ‘The Opportunism of Populists and the Defense of Constitutional Liberalism’. German Law Journal 20: 314–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane and Pech, Laurent. 2018a. ‘Is There A Better Way Forward?’. Verfassungsblog, 10 March, available at: <https://verfassungsblog.de/is-there-a-better-way-forward>..>Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane and Pech, Laurent. 2018b. ‘Is the Organisation of National Judiciaries a Purely Internal Competence?’. Verfassungsblog, 4 March, available at: <https://verfassungsblog.de/is-the-organisation-of-national-judiciaries-a-purely-internal-competence>..>Google Scholar
Sedelmeier, Ulrich. 2014. ‘Anchoring Democracy from Above? The European Union and Democratic Backsliding in Hungary and Romania after Accession’. Journal of Common Market Studies 52(1):105–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J, Rama, José and Santana, Andrés. 2020. ‘The Baskerville’s Dog Suddenly Started Barking: Voting for VOX in the 2019 Spanish General Elections’. Political Research Exchange, 2(1), doi:10.1080/2474736X.2020.1781543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venice Commission. 2011. ‘Opinion on the New Constitution of Hungary’, Adopted by the Venice Commission at its 87th Plenary Session, 17–18 June, Opinion 621/2011, CDL-AD(2011)016.Google Scholar
Venice Commission. 2016. ‘Opinion on the Amendments to the Act of 25 June on the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland’, 11–12 March, Opinion 833/2015, CDL-AD (2016).Google Scholar
von Achenbach, Jelena. 2018. ‘No Case for Legal Interventionism: Defending Democracy Through Protecting Pluralism and Parliamentarism’. VerfBlog, 12 December, available at: <https://verfassungsblog.de/no-case-for-legal-interventionism-defending-democracy-through-protecting-pluralism-and-parliamentarism>..>Google Scholar
Wagrandl, Ulrich. 2018. ‘Transnational Militant Democracy’. Global Constitutionalism 7(2):143–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Jonathan. 2015. ‘Emergency Europe’. Political Studies 63(2):300–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolkenstein, Fabio. 2020. ‘Transnational Complicity in Democratic Backsliding’. Global Justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric 12(2):117–40.Google Scholar
Zakaras, Alex. 2018. ‘Complicity and Coercion: Toward an Ethics of Political Participation’. In: Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy (Volume 4), edited by Sobel, David, Vallentyne, Peter and Wall, Steven, 192–218. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zulianello, Mattia. 2020. ‘Varieties of Populist Parties and Party Systems in Europe: From State-of-the-Art to the Application of a Novel Classification Scheme to 66 Parties in 33 Countries’. Government and Opposition 55(2):327–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar