The Rule of Law Decline and Assault on Media Pluralism and Freedom. A Comparative Study of Backsliding Democracies in the European Union
Independent, pluralistic media are the fourth pillar of democracy, performing public watchdog and providing citizens with information necessary for meaningful participation in democratic processes. However, existing guarantees in international, European Union, and domestic law have not prevented some EU member states’ leaders from serious assaults on media pluralism and freedom. This project maps, examines, and compares the methods and dynamics of these assaults in three EU member states experiencing a severe deterioration of the rule of law: Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. It explores their institutional, legal, political, economic, and cultural dimensions and compares the three regimes' approaches. The project also analyses how specific elements of the deliberate dismantling of rule of law enable assaults on media pluralism and freedom and hinder or complicate countering them. It also considers narratives and other methods, including exaggerated lawsuits, that pro-government media employ to justify and legitimize further dismantling of the rule of law, therefore contributing to the executive aggrandizement and entrenching the anti-rule of law rule. Such analysis will then make an empirical and theoretical contribution to the study of linkages between the decline of the rule of law and media pluralism and freedom.
