Both political parties and differentiated integration (DI) play an ambivalent role in
regard to democratic backsliding. Parties’ positioning towards democratic backsliding has not
always been straightforward, and DI has been seen as facilitating it. We analyse whether
party actors view democratic backsliding as a problematic issue ...
Both political parties and differentiated integration (DI) play an ambivalent role in
regard to democratic backsliding. Parties’ positioning towards democratic backsliding has not
always been straightforward, and DI has been seen as facilitating it. We analyse whether
party actors view democratic backsliding as a problematic issue for the EU, if they think DI
facilitates it, and how they consider the EU should respond to it. Drawing on 35 interviews
and a survey of 42 party actors in seven member states, we show that many do view
backsliding as problematic. Moreover, around half worried that DI could facilitate
backsliding, though others did not link the two. Finally, almost all considered it legitimate for
the EU to address democratic backsliding. Although centre-of-left actors are most likely to
worry about democratic backsliding and favour EU intervention, actors across the political
spectrum are sceptical about accepting DI in matters pertaining to Article 2.