title: New kids on the democracy block
abstract: This editorial introduces a thematic issue that examines the consequences of the accession of the Central and East European countries to the EU 20 years onward.The socioeconomic transformation of these countries in the pre-accession period was considered a remarkable success, that was attributed to the EU's conditionality policy.However, in the post-accession period, when these countries gained full membership rights and began playing a more active political role, they started deviating from som
journal: Politics and Governance