Societal Empowerment and Europeanization: Revisiting the EU's Impact on Democratization
本文从社会视角出发，提出社会赋权作为精英赋权的替代机制，分析欧盟通过结构性权力和规范性影响促进非欧盟国家民主化的四种机制，并以保加利亚为例展示欧盟如何通过民主治理模式塑造亲改革的社会力量。
Abstract The Europeanization literature predominantly credits the empowerment of pro‐reform political elites through the EU's incentives for the democratization of non‐EU countries. The existing studies under‐emphasize the societal dimension of the EU's impact and the normative context in which the EU's leverage is applied. Taking a societal perspective, this article examines societal empowerment as an alternative to elite empowerment and proposes four mechanisms of EU influence on democratization through societies taking into account the EU's structural power and actorness, and considering their effects on the societal sphere and societal actions. Applying the mechanisms to a tough case for societal mobilization for democracy – Bulgaria – the article shows how the EU, through representing a legitimate model of democratic governance, has created a strong pro‐reform societal constituency that can sustain the democratic dynamic. The article also demonstrates the relevance of cross‐national diffusion processes for pro‐democracy societal mobilization.