| In post-communist Central Europe, the European Union effectively used democratic conditionality to generate political reform in candidate states. With the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia now offers the former Soviet countries an alternative to EU integration, without the strings of democratic reform attached. Are less democratic regimes therefore more likely to side with Russia's organization in order to avoid committing to the stringent political reforms needed for EU association? This thesis applies theory on democratic change to four post-Soviet states to evaluate the nature of their political systems and their trajectories towards EU association or EEU membership. A correlation between democratic competitiveness and EU integration can be found in this region, but the lack of a causal link suggests that other factors may be at play. |
