Factors influencing a state’s foreign policy decision-making that originate from within the country (political system, natural resources, economic development, decision-makers, civil society, media, market actors, bureaucracy, political culture, history, culture, societal values etc.).
Published in Chapter:
From a Star Pupil to a Troubling Role Model for the Western Balkans: The Influence of Domestic Factors on the De-Europeanization of Slovenia During EU Crises
Jure Pozgan (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Ana Bojinović Fenko (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9055-3.ch009
Abstract
This chapter examines the phenomenon of backsliding in the post-accession process of Europeanisation in Slovenia as one of the Central and Eastern European member states of the EU. It seeks to explain the rise of compliance problems with the EU's values (i.e., de-Europeanisation) in Slovenia, which turned a former EU star pupil into a troublesome member state. The chapter analyses sources of economic and democratic backsliding in times of polycrises in the EU that stem from the state's domestic environment and confirms the determining role of decision-makers over the political system. Given the importance and widely shared image of Slovenia as a role model for the candidate states in the Western Balkans, the chapter also addresses the potential impact of Slovenia's de-Europeanisation turn for its role as a bridge between the EU and the Western Balkans region.