Decline of democracy—the European Union at a crossroad

Abstract

Although EU member states have committed themselves to upholding the fundamental democratic values enshrined in Article 2 Treaty on European Union, violations of these values could be observed in some member states—first and foremost in Hungary and Poland. This article studies whether these negative developments, which are often summarized under the terms backsliding or erosion of democracy, should be classified as a loss in the quality of democracy or even as a decline of democracy. By drawing on Gero Erdmann’s (2011) theoretical definition of decline of democracy and using Democracy Barometer data for the period between 2004 and 2016, this form of loss of the quality of democracy is analysed for the 28 EU member states. In addition, the EU’s role in safeguarding democracy in its member states is discussed. The article shows that it is not only the new EU members that show a decline of democracy more frequently, but the old EU members. The EU as guardian of the democratic fundamental values is failing to live up to its role despite the numerous instruments it has at its disposal.