Regional Integration and Democratic Conditionality

The goal of regional organizations to reduce uncertainty in international relations has been irregular worldwide and remains a puzzle for scholars. Lack of democracy and transparency are only two faces of international uncertainty, which have motivated scholars to explain how regional organizations can incentivize states to enhance and consolidate democracy. Genna and Hiroi contribute to this debate with an extensive research on how forty regional organizations play or not a significant role in providing elements to support democracy, particularly through the use of democratic conditionality. This is a highly recommended reading on comparative regionalism. -Roberto Dominguez, Suffolk University. Regional organizations have increasingly introduced democracy clauses , making membership conditional on promises to abide by democratic political competition and practices. Existing scholarship tends to focus either on selected successful end outcomes or the likely limitations of such clauses, and as a result we know little about when and how democracy clauses actually can change the incentives of actors. This book takes a comparative approach, looking at a large number of regional organizations and member constellations, and highlighting variation to identify causal mechanisms. The authors find that regional organizations can play an important role in enhancing democracy through transparency and sanctions when member states face potential challenges to democracy and a capable state willing to lead. The book is an important addition to research on the international context of democratic institutions. -Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, University of Essex & Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).