Asymmetric rupture: Stabilizing democratic transitions 2.0 with transnational law

Transitions away from autocratic capture of formerly democratic states in Europe will be different from the transitions of these states to democracy out of 20th century dictatorships. That is because the autocrats of today will still be at the table-backed by their supporters-and will not give up power voluntarily, in contrast to their predecessors. Moreover, today's backsliding democracies are now members of clubs that they only dreamed of entering at the time that the 20th century dictatorships collapsed. But both of these differences can be turned into advantages by deploying as a guide to democratic transformation the hard and soft law of European institutions that now binds these countries. If the new democrats first comply with the directly binding law of the transnational web of institutions that their countries have joined, then consider the erga omnes effects of a broader swath of this law and finally take on board supererogatory commitments from the soft law that these transnational bodies offer, newly restored democracies can restore the 'rule of law writ large,' even if it sometimes means violating 'the rule of law writ small.' Deploying external standards like these prevents domestically aspirational autocrats from gaming the rules because they cannot control those rules. As a result, Transitions 2.0 can use European rule of law to stabilize domestic rule of law in formerly rogue states.