International Actors and Democracy Protection: Preventing the Spread of Illiberal Legislation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Abstract

Illiberal actors are on the rise in many parts of the world. Young democracies and countries in transition are especially vulnerable to these movements. We consider the protection of already limited liberal values in Europe’s wider neighborhood—Eastern Europe and Central Asia—from further decline. Focusing on the critical case of the diffusion of illiberal laws from Russia throughout the region, we ask: What factors might prevent governments from adopting these laws, thus hindering the spread of Russian-inspired illiberalism? We focus on two examples: a so-called foreign agent law, which imposed restrictions on civil society organization, and a so-called gay propaganda law, which targeted LGBT people. We find that the diffusion of these laws is more contingent on demand-side conditions and generally less effective than commonly thought. Comparative evidence covering the two regions suggests that ties to democratic international actors, most importantly the European Union, account for variation in the diffusion of illiberal legislation from Russia. This supports the claim that ties to such actors can contribute to protecting countries in the shared neighborhood from the influence of illiberal regional actors.