Navigating EU Norms : A Case Study of Norm Resistance in Georgia's Electoral Reform Process

Sammanfattning: EU’s international role as a normative power can be questioned as the current foreign policy of the Eastern Partnership implies a limit to the union’s ability to democratize. An alignment with EU norms is often seen through a dichotomy of compliance or non-compliance, overlooking other forms of resistance stemming from a nexus of international compliance pressure, and defiance pressure from hybrid regime structures. This applies to Georgia, a pro-EU country in the Eastern Partnership, committed to EU norms while maintaining a skewed playing field in favor of incumbents. Through the application of a theoretical framework developed in memory studies, a range of rhetorical adaptation strategies employed by the ruling party regarding electoral reforms delineates a norm navigation. A qualitative content analysis of statements and events relating to the long-contested electoral system during 2015-2019 shows a variation of strategies used, pointing in a direction of increased pressure to align with prescribed EU norms. Whether EU or domestic political forces can be credited is difficult to determine, yet the nuances of norm resistance are important to analytically separate from overarching labels, as states’ rhetorical commitments need a critical perspective to better understand the limits to EU’s normative power in the Eastern Partnership.