The Substance of the EU Democracy Promotion in Ukraine: Is Embedded Democracy the Right Concept?

Abstract

Despite the EU's experience in the field of democracy promotion, a question remains whether the EU seeks to promote a specific democratic model. The paper aims to determine whether the embedded democracy is the right concept to address the substance of the EU democracy promotion, based on the case of the EU's enhanced democracy promotion efforts following the Euromaidan Revolution in Ukraine. The paper starts with exploring different approaches to the substance of the EU democracy promotion. Then, the scope of the concept "embedded democracy" is addressed with a special emphasis on its application within the field of the EU democracy promotion. The central part of the paper concentrates on the substantial analysis of the EU democratization efforts in Ukraine, in light of "embedded democracy". The findings regarding the applicability of the "embedded democracy" concept to the substance of the EU democracy promotion in Ukraine are formulated. The directions for future research are addressed.