DEMOCRACY PROMOTION: THE ROLE AND STRATEGY OF EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU) is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and the EU?s enlargement policy has promoted democracy with the process of accession conditionality, which has made a great contribution towards global democratization. Since the end of the Cold War, the EU has evolved its democracy promotion strategies through aid related projects and political cooperation. The EU and the member states support democracy promotion by providing funding through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. However, while the EU engages in many democracy promotion initiatives, it has shown inconsistencies in terms of how is understood conceptually and how it is actually put into practice. This is largely in part because of the diversity amongst the member EU states and the complex structure of the organization. This study critically analyzes the EU?s democracy promotion agenda by looking at the key operational instruments and strategies of the organization. This study also deals with the EU?s understanding of democracy and the structural constraints of the organization within the framework of democracy promotion.