A musician at Prague's famous 'Lennon Wall' plays in support of democracy activists in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)In his recent article on the state of democracy support in the United States (Is the United States giving up on democracy abroad?), Thomas Carothers analyses the trend over recent decades. His conclusion is that US democracy support is mainly taking place at the low policy level, and that decreasing levels of enthusiasm for the subject will now face further decline, or at least not return to the high policy table. While the picture painted may be bleak, the underlying message for the democracy community is clear – there is a need to work together to underscore the clear benefits of bolstering democracy. This is also the case in Europe where the prevailing winds of foreign policy point towards less support for democracy abroad.
What of Europe?
Democracy, both as a system and fundamental value, still seems firmly rooted in the DNA of the European Union. Indeed, the EU helped bring about stability and collaboration after centuries of war and conflict in Europe. From the beginning, the EU has recognised that democracy comes in many different forms and shapes – epitomised by its slogan: unity in diversity. All current 28 members of the EU have a completely different governance set-up and democratic system, but all are, as a key requirement to join, democratic. Numerous EU regulations have underlined the value of democracy and Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union specifies democracy as a foreign policy priority of the EU.
