FLIRTING WITH THE EU: GEORGIA'S ANTI-CORRUPTION AND
PRO-TRANSPARENCY REFORMS AFTER THE
ROSE REVOLUTION
Nyiri DuCharme*
VVVVVThis research is based on significant primary research conducted in the Republic of Georgia in February 2014, primarily in the form of interview data with such stakeholders as Transparency International, the Eurasian Partnership Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, and the European Union Special Representative to Georgia. Additional secondary research has also been undertaken in order to ground this paper in the current literature on post-Soviet transition and European enlargement. It has been found that while significant progress has been made in the fight against petty corruption, the issue of embedded elite corruption persists in the Republic of Georgia. Although civil society has strengthened, and Euro-Atlantic values have taken root, there remain significant obstacles until Georgia can be considered a fully successful post-Soviet state.research is based on significant primary research conducted in the Republic of Georgia in February 2014, primarily in the form of interview data with such stakeholders as Transparency International, the Eurasian Partnership Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, and the European Union Special Representative to Georgia. Additional secondary research has also been undertaken in order to ground this paper in the current literature on post-Soviet transition and European enlargement. It has been found that while significant progress has been made in the fight against petty corruption, the issue of embedded elite corruption persists in the Republic of Georgia. Although civil society has strengthened, and Euro-Atlantic values have taken root, there remain significant obstacles until Georgia can be considered a fully successful post-Soviet state.This research is based on significant primary research conducted in the Republic of Georgia in February 2014, primarily in the form of interview data with such stakeholders as Transparency International, the Eurasian Partnership Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, and the European Union Special Representative to Georgia. Additional secondary research has also been undertaken in order to ground this paper in the current literature on post-Soviet transition and European enlargement. It has been found that while significant progress has been made in the fight against petty corruption, the issue of embedded elite corruption persists in the Republic of Georgia. Although civil society has strengthened, and Euro-Atlantic values have taken root, there remain significant obstacles until Georgia can be considered a fully successful post-Soviet state. Christian religious leaders who no longer represent the views of much of the populace. Such a development empowers multiculturalism’s critics and indicates a flaw in its practicality over time, as it calls into question the value of an inflexible system that identifies individuals’ interest in an issue—here education—along a single, religious axis.
*Nyiri DuCharme has just completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and European Union studies at the University of Toronto (Victoria College). She will begin her Master of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa in September 2014. Her research interests are European enlargement, democratic transition, and Canadian immigration policy.
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THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL STUDIES
VOL. 1
JULY 2014
NO. 4
ARTICLES