This thesis investigates under which conditions do authoritarian Member States exist in International Organizations that require democratic governance in their treaty law. The European Union is used as a case study along with two of its Member States that are in the process of transitioning to democracy from previous authoritarian regimes—Hungary and Romania. This thesis employs stealth authoritarian theory to analyze how a democratizing Member State may violate these laws and revert to authoritarian governance. It also critiques international enforcement mechanisms to consider their effectiveness to enforce their laws and norms as well as prevent an authoritarian reversal. Finally, cultural internalization of IO law is analyzed in order to assess the conditions in which a Member State’s domestic population would approve, or even call for, undemocratic governance that violates IO law.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis investigates under which conditions do authoritarian Member States exist in International Organizations that require democratic governance in their treaty law. The European Union is used as a case study along with two of its Member States that are in the process of transitioning to democracy from previous authoritarian regimes—Hungary and Romania. This thesis employs stealth authoritarian theory to analyze how a democratizing Member State may violate these laws and revert to authoritarian governance. It also critiques international enforcement mechanisms to consider their effectiveness to enforce their laws and norms as well as prevent an authoritarian reversal. Finally, cultural internalization of IO law is analyzed in order to assess the conditions in which a Member State’s domestic population would approve, or even call for, undemocratic governance that violates IO law.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Barg, Matt"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"International Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dana Zartner","Elliot Neaman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-20T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-12-20T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:43:31Z","subjects":["Comparative and Foreign Law","Comparative Politics","Courts","Eastern European Studies","International Law","International Relations","Law","Political Theory","Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/163","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dana Zartner","Elliot Neaman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Barg, Matt"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-02-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["International Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Comparative and Foreign Law","Comparative Politics","Courts","Eastern European Studies","International Law","International Relations","Law","Political Theory","Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/163"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates under which conditions do authoritarian Member States exist in International Organizations that require democratic governance in their treaty law. The European Union is used as a case study along with two of its Member States that are in the process of transitioning to democracy from previous authoritarian regimes—Hungary and Romania. This thesis employs stealth authoritarian theory to analyze how a democratizing Member State may violate these laws and revert to authoritarian governance. It also critiques international enforcement mechanisms to consider their effectiveness to enforce their laws and norms as well as prevent an authoritarian reversal. Finally, cultural internalization of IO law is analyzed in order to assess the conditions in which a Member State’s domestic population would approve, or even call for, undemocratic governance that violates IO law.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Authoritarian Member States in International Organizations"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dana Zartner","Elliot Neaman"],"dc:creator":["Barg, Matt"],"dc:date.available":["2016-02-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates under which conditions do authoritarian Member States exist in International Organizations that require democratic governance in their treaty law. The European Union is used as a case study along with two of its Member States that are in the process of transitioning to democracy from previous authoritarian regimes—Hungary and Romania. This thesis employs stealth authoritarian theory to analyze how a democratizing Member State may violate these laws and revert to authoritarian governance. It also critiques international enforcement mechanisms to consider their effectiveness to enforce their laws and norms as well as prevent an authoritarian reversal. Finally, cultural internalization of IO law is analyzed in order to assess the conditions in which a Member State’s domestic population would approve, or even call for, undemocratic governance that violates IO law.
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