Playing the blame game on Brussels: the domestic political effects of EU interventions against democratic backsliding
Playing the blame game on Brussels: the domestic political effects of EU interventions against democratic backsliding
复制标题
对布鲁塞尔玩指责游戏：欧盟干预民主倒退的国内政治影响
DOI：
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发表时间：
2017
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Oliver Treib
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bernd Schlipphak;Oliver Treib
本文认为，欧盟(EU)为保护其核心价值观而进行干预，很可能会在国内引发意想不到的不良后果。欧盟的干预通常会邀请被指控的政府对布鲁塞尔玩推卸责任的游戏。通过批评欧盟非法干涉国内事务，政府可能会将欧盟的干预框定为来自外部的威胁，并将自己展示为对抗这种威胁的唯一保障。因此，在欧洲干预之后，对那些本应受到欧盟干预削弱的国内参与者的支持可能会增加，而欧盟的支持可能会大幅下降。本文通过追踪欧盟在2000年至2002年期间干预奥地利和2010年以来干预匈牙利的国内反应，阐明了这一观点。总而言之，欧盟应该非常谨慎地对待这种外部干预，因为它们可能很容易在国内层面加强反欧盟和非自由主义政治势力。为了最大限度地减少这种不良后果的风险，应建立防止民主倒退的自下而上机制，这将允许国内弱势群体在感到本国违反民主规则的情况下向独立的欧洲民主监督机构提出申诉。
ABSTRACT This article develops the argument that European Union (EU) intervention to protect its core values is likely to provoke unintended and undesired consequences at the domestic level. EU intervention will typically invite the accused government to play the blame game on Brussels. By criticizing the EU for illegitimately interfering with domestic affairs, the government may frame EU intervention as a threat from the outside and present itself as the only safeguard against this threat. As a consequence, support for those domestic actors that were supposed to be weakened by EU intervention is likely to increase in the aftermath of a European intervention, while EU support might significantly drop. The article illustrates this argument by tracing domestic reactions to EU interventions against Austria between 2000 and 2002 and against Hungary since 2010. In conclusion, the EU should be very cautious with such external interventions, since they may easily strengthen anti-EU and illiberal political forces at the domestic level. To minimize the risk of such undesired consequences, bottom–up mechanisms against democratic backsliding should be installed, which would allow disadvantaged domestic groups to appeal to an independent European democracy watchdog if they feel that democratic rules are being violated in their country.