Is democracy promotion effective in Moldova? The impact of European institutions on development of civil and political rights in Moldova

Democratization

Volumn 15, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 142-161

  McDonagh, Ecaterina ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Civil and political rights; Conditionality; Democracy promotion; Moldova; Normative pressure

Indexed keywords

EID: 38649112590     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: 1743890X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510340701770022     Document Type: Article

References (90)

1. Peter Burnell, Democracy Assistance. International Co-operation for Democratization (London: Frank Cass, 2000), p. 39.
2. Judith Kelley, 'International Actors on the Domestic Scene: Membership Conditionality and Socialization by International Institutions', International Organization, Vol. 58, No. 3 (2004), p. 425.
3. See, for instance, Karen Henderson (ed.), Back to Europe: Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union (London: UCL Press, 1999)
4. Heather Grabbe and Kirsty Hughes, Enlarging the EU Eastwards (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1998).
5. Kelley (note 2), p.426.
6. More concretely, the time-frame for the analysis of democracy promotion inMoldova is from 1995 to 2002.
7. The official name of the party in Moldovan is 'Partidul Comuniştilor din Republica Moldova' (PCRM).
8. See Diane Ethier, 'Is Democracy Promotion Effective? Comparing Conditionality and Incentives', Democratization, Vol. 10, No. 1, (2003), pp. 99-120.
9. See, for instance, Jon Pevehouse, 'Democracy from Outside-In? International Organizations and Democratization?', International Organization, Vol. 56, No. 3 (2002), pp. 515-49
10. Jon Pevehouse, Democracy from Above: Regional Organizations and Democratization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
11. Kelley (note 2)
12. and Judith Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe. The Power of Norms and Incentives (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
13. Peter Burnell and Peter Calvert, 'Introduction: Promoting Democracy Abroad', Democratization, Vol. 12, No. 4, (2005), pp. 433-8.
14. See Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe (note 8).
15. For an overview of classification criteria see Peter Schraeder, 'The State of Art in International Democracy Promotion: Results of a Joint European-North American Research Network', Democratization, Vol. 10, No. 2, (2003), pp. 21-44.
16. Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe (note 8), p.7.
17. For a more detailed discussion of both logics of domestic impact by IOs, see James G. March and Johan P. Olsen, Rediscovering Institutions: the Organizational Basis of Politics (New York: Free Press, 1989), pp. 160-1.
18. Frank Schimmelfennig, 'Introduction: The Impact of International Organizations on the Central and Eastern European States - Conceptual and Theoretical Issues', in Ronald H. Linden (ed.), Norms and Nannies. The Impact of International Organisations on the Central and East European States (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002), p. 12.
19. Ibid.
20. Kelley (note 2), p. 428.
21. Ibid.
22. Alastair Johnston, 'Treating International Institutions as Social Environments', International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 4 (2001), p. 496.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe (note 8), p. 23.
26. Lucan A. Way, 'Pluralism by Default in Moldova', Journal of Democracy Vol. 13, No. 4 (2002), pp. 127-41.
27. See Valeriu Mosneaga, 'Formarea sistemului pluripartidist in Moldova', in Statul National si Societatea Polietnica: Moldova in anii '90 (Chisinau: Perspectiva, 1997), pp. 115-22.
28. See, for instance, Freedom House's 'Nations in Transit' Report for Moldova, 2005 and 2006, available at http://www.freedomhouse.org.
29. See Stephen Levitsky and Lucan Way, 'The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism', Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2002), p. 53.
30. For instance, Way labels Moldovan political system as a 'pluralism by default'. See Way (note 22), pp. 127-8.
31. For methodology and codification procedures, see the Freedom House's web site at http://www.freedomhouse.org.
32. The Polity IV data set, the Users' Manual and Polity IV Country Report 2003 Series can be found at http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/polity/.
33. Stuart Hensel and Anatol Gudim, 'Moldova's Economic Transition: Slow and Contradictory', in Ann Lewis (ed.), The EU and Moldova: On a Fault-line of Europe, (London: The Federal Trust, 2004), p. 89.
34. Ibid.
35. See Occasional Papers by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, 'European Neighbourhood Policy: Economic Review of ENP Countries', No. 25 (available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ economy_finance/publications/occasional_papers/2006/ocp25en.pdf) and No. 18 (available at: http://ec.europa.eu/economy-finance/publications/ occasional_papers/2005/ocpl8en.pdf) by European Commission, Brussels, June 2006 and April 2005, respectively.
36. See the 2001, 2002, and 2003 Amnesty International reports on human rights in Moldova, available at http://www.web.amnesty.org.
37. See Freedom House's reports on freedom of the press in Moldova, available at http://www.freedomhouse.org.
38. Author's interview with Vladimir Philipov, Ambassador of the COE in Moldova, 6 July 2005.
39. Take, for instance, Council regulation (EC, EUROATOM) No. 99/2000: 'When an essential element for the continuation of cooperation through assistance is missing, in particular in cases of violation of democratic principles and human rights, the Council may ... decide upon appropriate measures concerning assistance to a partner state'. Article 16, Council regulation No. 99/2000, Official Journal of the European Communities, L12/1, 18.1.2000.
40. Data taken from the OECD and WB, available at http://www.oecd.org/ dataoecd/18/62/1901379.gif.
41. Ibid.
42. Opinion No. 188 on the Application by Moldova for Membership of the Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, adopted on 27 June 1995, available at http://assembly.coe.int/ main.asp?Link=/documents/adoptedtext/ta95/eopi188.htm
43. This dispute escalated when the government denied official recognition to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia in 1999. According to the then legislation, which was much criticized by European organizations, all unrecognised churches were denied the right to own property and to function normally on the territory of Moldova. The real cause for the dispute had to do with political struggle between the Orthodox Church authorities in Russia and Romania for control of Orthodox churches in Moldova.
44. See the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE, Opinion No. 188 (note 38).
45. See the Report of the Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, 'Respect of human rights in the Republic of Moldova: January 2001-January 2002', in Moldova: Two Years Under The Communist Rule (Chisinau: Colograf-Com, 2003).
46. See the 1995 and 1997 Annual Reports on OSCE Activities, OSCE, Vienna, available at http://www.osce.org/publications/ show_publication.php?a=1&grp=193&limit=6&pos=0.
47. See the Final Report by the ODIHR (OSCE) on the 2001 Parliamentary Elections in Moldova, Warsaw, available at http://www.osce.org/documents/ odihr/2001/04/1280_en.pdf.
48. Author's interview with Iurie Perevoznic, Parliamentary Advocate on Human Rights (Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman in Moldova), 2002 to present, 24 June 2005, Chisinau.
49. See the ODIHR Final Report on 2001 Elections in Moldova (note 43).
50. See Annual Report 1999 on OSCE Activities, OSCE, Vienna, 1999, p. 63, available at http://www.osce.org/publications/sg/2000/03/ 14113_282_en.pdf.
51. Report to the OSCE's Permanent Council by the RFM, Freimut Duve, Vienna, 22 July 1999, available at http://www.osce.org/documents/rfm/1999/07/ 2298_en.pdf
52. According to the new provision, Moldovan language broadcasting should not be less than 60 per cent of total airtime.
53. 'Moldova's Compliance with the COE's Obligations on Freedom of Expression and Information', in Moldova: Two Years Under The Communist Rule (note 41) pp. 37-9.
54. Author's interview with Serghei Ostaf, Deputy Chairman of the Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, 26 June 2005, Chisinau.
55. See the 2002 Freedom House Report on Freedom of the Press in Moldova, available at http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page= 251&year=2002
56. and the 2002 Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in Moldova, available at http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/Mda-summary-eng.
57. European Court of Human Rights, Survey of Activities 2002, p. 33, available at http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/ ADA993B5-8591-42BA-80F5-CD26A6E598B8/0/SurveyofActivities2002.pdf
58. Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe (note 8), p. 76.
59. Author's interview with Raisa Apolschii, Parliamentary Advocate on Human Rights, 2003 to present, 16 June 2005, Chisinau.
60. 'Moldova's Compliance with the COE's Obligations' in Moldova: Two Years Under The Communist Rule (note 49), pp. 40-1.
61. Author's interview with Serghei Ostaf, Deputy Chairman of the Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, 26 June 2005, Chisinau; Author's interview with Paul Strutzescu, Chairman, League for Defence of Human Rights in Moldova (LADOM), 1 July 2005, Chisinau.
62. Author's interview with Anatol Gudim, Executive Director of the Center for Strategic Studies and Reforms (CISR), 10 July 2005, Chisinau.
63. In the 2001 parliamentary elections the Communist Party of Moldova (PCRM) won 50.7 per cent of the vote and 71 of the 101 seats in parliament.
64. See the official statement by Mr Voronin at the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE on 27 June 2001, in Moldova: Two Years Under The Communist Rule (note 43), pp. 59-60.
65. Author's interview with Angela Sirbu, Centre of Independent Journalism, 27 June 2005.
66. RFE/RL Newsline, 18 January 2002.
67. RFE/RL Newsline, 31 January 2002.
68. RFE/RL Newsline, 5 February 2002.
69. RFE/RL Newsline, 11 February 2002.
70. At the same time a more explicit threat of Moldova's COE membership withdrawal was expressed by the deputy chairman of the COE's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Claude Casagrande, who criticised the new law on administrative division and, in general, the dominance of the governmental party.
71. See RFE/RL Newsline, 30 January 2002.
72. Author's interview with Fiona McLean, head of the European Commission's TACIS Office in Chisinau, 7 July 2005, Chisinau.
73. Resolution 1280 (2002) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE, 24 April 2002, available at http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ ta02/ERES1280.htm.
74. Ibid.
75. See Recommendation 1554 (2002) by the PACE to the Committee of Ministers, April 2002, available at http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/ AdoptedText/ta02/EREC1554.htm.
76. RFE/RL Newsline, 28 March 2002.
77. RFE/RL Newsline, 27 March 2002 and 8 April 2002.
78. Logos Press in Moldova, No. 10 (458), 22 March 2002.
79. Logos press in Moldova, No.16 (464), 3 May 2002.
80. Ibid.
81. Data taken from EU website, http://www.europa.eu.
82. RFE/RL Newsline, 26 April 2002 and 10 June 2002.
83. Author's interview with Stefan Secareanu, member of the opposition party PCDM, member of parliament since 1994, member of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and National Minorities since 2004, 21 June, 2005, Chisinau.
84. Author's interview with Ludmila Borgula, PCRM member and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and National Minorities since 2004, 22 June 2005, Chisinau.
85. PACE's Resolution 1303 (2002), September 2002, available at http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta02/ERES1303.htm.
86. Kelley, Ethnic Politics in Europe (note 8), p. 92.
87. Kelley talks about the possibility of a similar contra-argument in her analysis: 'What if the duration of involvement by international institutions is decisive rather than the kind of involvement?' Ibid. p. 164.
88. Ibid.
89. In comparison, the oppositionist party, PPCD, had only 6 per cent support. Public opinion poll conducted by the Romanian polling institute IMAS.
90. See RFE/RL Newsline, 30 April 2002.