Effectiveness of EU democracy promotion in the neighbourhood through the lens of foreign policy analysis

Abstract

The present review article takes stock of the scholarly literature on EU democracy promotion in the EU's eastern and southern neighbourhood. By deploying the criteria of foreign policy analysis (FPA), the article evaluates the policy context, actor identity, and the policy instruments of EU democracy promotion in the neighbourhood. It argues that the literature still lacks a proper understanding of the role of other actors in the EU's democracy promotion policy, pays insufficient attention to democracy promotion programmes by individual member states, and has the potential for expansion towards good governance promotion studies.