CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Varadashvili, Tata |
|---|---|
| Title | Democracy on the Brink: Georgian Dream's Political Attack on Civil Society |
| Summary | In recent years, Georgia has experienced an escalating deterioration of democratic principles across various sectors, marked by growing authoritarian tendencies of the ruling party, the Georgian Dream. This thesis analyzes the 2024 Transparency of Foreign Influence Law and its implications for Georgia's democratic future, focusing on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). It argues that the legislation restricts the operational capacity of CSOs while also weakening the key principles of democratic governance. By adopting Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this thesis examines how political language and narratives, particularly those used by government officials following the law’s adoption, have directly undermined and discredited CSOs. The methodology utilizes reports from international and national organizations, legislative texts, academic literature, and an interview with a Russian human rights defender. By focusing on political language, this thesis analyzes broader societal and political repercussions of the law concerning funding restrictions, state control over NGO activities, and stigmatization of civil society actors. The findings show that the Georgian government’s framing of CSOs as foreign agents weakens domestic public participation and international democratic governance standards. Ultimately, the research concludes that the law functions as a tool for political centralization, indicating a shift away from democratic pluralism toward state-led authoritarianism. |
| Supervisor | Lyer, Kirsten Roberts |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/varadashvili_tata.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2025, Central European University