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ID: 106219

Citizen participation in local governance in eastern Europe: rediscovering a strength of civil society in the post-socialist world? / Petrova, Tsveta

Petrova, Tsveta	Journal Article
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2011.

Summary/Abstract

This article studies the impact of citizen participation on local government performance in Bulgaria. Both survey and interview data are used to suggest that, all else being equal, municipal efficacy grows with the increasing involvement of social and economic actors in the policy-making process. This improved government efficacy is most likely a result of the professionalisation and organisational strength of the third sector. Although the politicisation of the local state has undermined its capacity, municipalities have been able not only to reconstitute some of their authority but also to improve the output and the quality of their policy making by employing the expertise and support of major local civic organisations.

Key Words

Eastern Europe ; Bulgaria ; Citizen participation ; Local Governance ; Professionalisation

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ID: 137091

International, national or local: explaining the substance of democracy promotion: the case of Eastern European democracy promotion / Petrova, Tsveta

Petrova, Tsveta	Article
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Summary/Abstract

The EU is one of the most prominent democracy promoters in the world today. It has played an especially important role in the democratization of its Eastern European member states. Given the acknowledged success and legitimacy of EU democracy promotion in these countries, it could be expected that when they themselves began promoting democracy, they would borrow from the EU's democracy promotion model. Yet this paper finds that the EU's model has not played a defining role for the substantive priorities of the Eastern European democracy promoters. They have instead borrowed from their own democratization models practices that they understand to fit the needs of recipients. This article not only adds to the literature on the Europeanization of member state policies but also contributes both empirically and theoretically to the literature on the foreign policy of democracy promotion. The article theorizes the factors shaping the substance of democracy promotion—how important international ‘best practices’ are and how they interact and compete with donor-level domestic models and recipient democratization needs. Also, this study sheds light on the activities of little-studied regional democracy promoters—the Eastern European members of the EU.

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ID: 155307

Pressure, Favours, and Vote-buying: experimental evidence from Romania and Bulgaria / Mares, Isabela; Muntean, Aurelian; Petrova, Tsveta

Mares, Isabela	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This article examines the mix of non-programmatic strategies used by politicians to gain voter support in contemporary Eastern Europe. We use a mixed-method design that combines survey-based experiments and qualitative research in a paired comparison of localities in Romania and Bulgaria. Our article documents that the mix of clientelistic strategies differs across localities with different turnover rates. In both Romania and Bulgaria, we find that the use of clientelistic strategies that politicise state resources is higher in localities with long-term political incumbents.

Key Words

Pressure ; Experimental Evidence ; Favours ; Vote-buying ; Romania and Bulgaria

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