Dan Kelemen in Foreign Affairs: Europe's Autocracy Problem

Network member Dan Kelemen (Rutgers) has a new article out in Foreign Affairs.  Co-authored with Mitchell Orenstein (UPenn), and entitled "Europe's Autocracy Problem: Polish Democracy's Final Days?," the article explores Poland's slide toward autocracy and the role played by EU inaction in bringing it about.  The first paragraph follows; the full version can be found here.

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Winter has come to Europe, but it seems to be springtime for the continent’s autocrats. Following the example of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz Party, Poland’s new government, led by the nationalist-populist Law and Justice party (PiS), has launched assaults on the country’s judiciary and public media, putting Polish democracy and the rule of law at risk. In December, tens of thousands of Poles demonstrated against the government’s illiberal actions; European Commission officials, meanwhile, have promised to investigate whether the developments in Poland constitute a “systemic threat” to the rule of law there. Unsurprisingly, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the PiS, has dismissed the protestors as traitors and rejected criticism from abroad.

The article continues here.