PhD defence
Emilija Tudzarovska Gjorgjievska defended her doctoral thesis New understanding of EU legitimacy and anti-corruption: The role of the representative democracies at Charles University on 16 September 2021.
Current position
Visiting Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Teaching: Contemporary European Politics, Institute of Sociological Studies, Charles University (2020/2021, 2021/2022)
PhD project
There is increasing evidence of the backsliding of democracy and slow progress in the fight against corruption in the former (Central and Eastern European) and current applicant EU member states. On the one hand, scholars argue that the EU integration process contributes to a transformation of the nation-state systems of checks and balances, while it also borrows legitimacy from the nation state in aid of the supranational process of integration. On the other hand, national parliaments hold a unique normative power to exercise vertical and horizontal accountability and to hold officials accountable for their actions. Such practices can contibute to the prevention and penalization of corruptive practices. Yet, we know little about how national parliaments exercise the accountability function and scrutinize the results in the fight against corruption, nor which factors contribute to the quality of the legitimation process. This project therefore aims to examine the causal linkages between parliamentary accountability and the process of EU democratization. It also aims to shed light on the factors that shape the legitimation processes and their impact on the fight against corruption.
- Supervisor: Zdenka Mansfeldová, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences
- Co- Supervisors: Christopher Lord, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo and Pavol Frič, Charles University
Secondment
- European Citizen Action Service, Brussels
Background
Prior to joining PLATO, I have been working as practitioner on policy and programs with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) and PEN International. As results I have been able to shape my professional and research experiences in the EU and foreign policy affairs and gain first-hand knowledge from the UK, German and other foreign best practices. I’m also former member of the Editorial Board of the political magazine Political Thought and Member of the Global Initiative Network of experts. The PLATO PhD network is great opportunity to build new networks and shape perspectives for bridging the best of the two worlds of academia and policy practice. Nationality: Macedonian.
- MA in International Politics, Centre Européen de Recherches Internationales et Stratégiques (CERIS), Brussels and Collège d'Etudes Interdisciplinaires, Université Paris Sud
- MSc in Educational Management, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
- BA in World and Comparative Literature, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
News
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‘PLATO helped me become confident in my skills and capabilities’
Four PLATO PhD researchers share their experiences – and provide top tips for future doctoral students.
Publications
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New understanding of EU legitimacy and anti-corruption: The role of the representative democracies
Emilija Tudzarovska Gjorgjievska
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The politics of legitimation in the EU: legitimacy recovered?
The overall conclusions of the PLATO project are available in a joint book with contributions by supervisors and PhD researchers. The book develops a better understanding of how the politics of legitimating the EU are actor-dependent, context-dependent and problem-dependent.
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The ‘silent guardians’ in the fight against corruption: the case of North Macedonia
Emilija Tudjarovska Gjorgjievska has published an article in the Central European Public Administration Review on institutional gaps that give opportunities for corruption and social traps in unconsolidated democracies.
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National parliaments’ role in the fight against corruption
By constraining the powers of executives and developing a political culture of accountability, national parliaments play a key role in the fight against corruption. However, their normative powers may be marginalized in the process of democratic consolidation. Based on original research from three European states, Emilija Tudzarovska-Gjorgjievska argues that weak parliaments contribute to the vicious cycle of corruption when they give a pretence of legitimation but do not act as democratic institutions proper.
Post-Crisis Democracy in Europe blog, 26 February 2020
Presentations
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PLATO kick-off conference
PLATO's kick-off conference brings together the project's partners in Oslo for academic discussions and networking.
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EU legitimacy, socialisation and corruption at the International Conference of Europeanists
Three PLATO PhDs will present papers at the 26th International Conference of Europeanists in Madrid, 20-22 June 2019, the world’s largest annual gathering of Europe experts.
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Synthesising research findings (RTC4)
ESRs will be presenting their contribution to the PLATO anthology and their overall research results, with an emphasis on the first.