Russia, EU and the Post-Soviet Democratic Failure

By studying the influence of the two main external actors in post-Soviet space, the EU and Russia,  this study contributes to the increasing body of literature that studies the causes of democratic recession and authoritarian backlash in post-Soviet states and the role of regional actors in these processes. Empirically, the study finds the EU to be both a democracy-promoting and democracy-hindering actor in post-Soviet states. Russia’s impact, on the other hand, is far more negative than th