GIP Commentary: When an Election Damages Democracy: Lessons from the 2018 Georgia’s Presidential Election 

Kornely Kakachia, Bidzina Lebanidze Georgia’s recent presidential elections exposed many of the problems that have been aggravating the country’s democratization process over the last few years. By electing the country’s first female president, Georgia has made one step forward — but the...
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GIP participates in the roundtable discussion on Georgia’s Europeanisation at Clingendael

On October 22, GIP Director, Kornely Kakachia and GIP Deputy Director – Renata Skardžiūtė-Kereselidze, were invited to speak at the roundtable discussion – “Prospects and Challenges for the Europeanisation of Georgia” by Clingendael Institute in the Hague, Netherlands. With the launch of...
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Democratization and Europeanization in Georgia: How to lead the process?

Levan Kakhishvili, Elene Panchulidze Despite the fact that European integration is a priority for the Georgian government, public opinion polls demonstrate that there is a lack of public awareness about the processes of Europeanization and democratization. It is not always clear to an average Georgi...
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Open Government Partnership (OGP) through the citizens’ lens – Why do we need OGP more than we think?

Ketevan Goletiani According to the 2018 Freedom House report, Georgia remains classified as a hybrid regime with an aggregated score of 64 out of 100. Despite improvements in recent years, the country has faced setbacks in democratic development in terms of informal governance; the impact of oligarc...
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GIP held discussions in Georgian regions about Democratization and Europeanization challenges in Georgia

On 19-28 June, the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) held discussions in Georgian regions about Democratization and Europeanization challenges in Georgia. Telavi, Batumi, Kutaisi and Gori Centers for Civic Engagement hosted GIP director – Kornely Kakachia and policy analysts – Levan Kakhishvi...
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Church and Politics or Church in Politics: How does the Georgian Orthodox Church Impact Georgia’s European Integration Policy?

Vladimer Narsia This policy brief analyzes the role of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) in Georgian society, particularly in the context of promoting the European integration process. The paper consists of three sections: sermons and preaching that influence European integration policy; the Church...
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GIP Hosted International Conference – “Democratization and Europeanization Agenda During Uncertain times: Georgia in Focus” #GEODEM2018

While Georgia has made an impressive progress on Europeanization agenda, its capacity to consolidate democracy is still uncertain. To discuss the prospects and challenges of Georgia’s democratization and Europeanization, on 2 May, 2018, the Georgian Institute of Politics with support of the Nation...
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Compendium of Policy Briefs 2018

Bidzina Lebanidze, Joseph Larsen, Levan Kakhishvili, Ivanna Machitidze Consisting of four policy briefs, the publication introduces policy recommendations on major aspects of Georgia’s Europeanization and democratization agenda,  particularly on the influence of Western political conditionality o...
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Causing Trouble for Democracies: Should Georgia Look West to Learn Russia’s Strategy?

Ivanna Machitidze The combination of democratic promotion and democratic consolidation has long become a catch phrase for states to be recognized as high-achievers and their societies to be labelled as free. The West, the driving force of both processes, has underestimated the risk that the fruits o...
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Democratic consolidation in Georgia: Why does consensus matter?

Levan Kakhishvili The lack of democratic consolidation in Georgia has become an increasingly important challenge against the background of rising populism and democratic backsliding in Europe and North America. It is widely believed that the European Union’s (EU) policy of conditionality has been ...
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