Quantifying the Functioning of Democratic Institutions: Developing a Reliable Model for the Western Balkans
Quantifying the Functioning of Democratic Institutions: Developing a Reliable Model for the Western Balkans

Author(s): Miloš Pavković
Subject(s): Politics, Political Theory, Governance, Government/Political systems, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: Centar za evropske politike CEP
Keywords: Democratic institutions; Western Balkans; Governance; Political systems; Political stability;
Summary/Abstract: Functioning of democratic institutions (FoDI) is an inseparable part of country reports produced by the European Commission (EC, Commission) each year. At the same time, this is the sole part of the report that does not have an assessment of the level of preparedness and progress. Since 33 negotiating chapters and two sub-areas within the Fundamentals cluster, namely Economic Criteria and the Public Administration Reform (PAR), are regularly assessed by the Commission for all (potential) candidate countries, FoDI deserved the same treatment. Moreover having in mind the revised enlargement methodology with enhanced focus on the Fundamentals, the necessity for providing a clear assessment of the state of play in this area appears as a logical step forward if the aim is to elevate the overall impact of the mentioned reports on the reform processes in the Western Balkan region. Hence, this paper offers thorough guidance for the EC to apply quantification to the FoDI area, using a reliable approach (referred to as ‘mixed approach’ throughout the paper).

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