ARTICLES 

In the process of political development in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), joining and converging towards the EU are the two coordinates for evaluating democratization. The common attributes of being both a post-conflict country and a new EU member state have made Croatia an excellent case and reference for examining the democratization process in and the differences among the Western Balkans and the EU countries in CEE. From the ratings of various democracy index and the national governance indicators in the past 30 years, especially the index of state capture, it can be seen that the positive effect of the EU membership on the democratization of Croatia is very prominent. However, the interaction of factors such as a lack of conditional constraints after accession, dependency on the domestic political culture and the state capture ability of the ruling group make the deepening of democratic consolidation in Croatia full of repetitions, twists and even regressions to some extent. It is difficult to tell whether the phenomenon that took place in CEE has triggered a resurgence of democracy in Europe, but it undoubtedly provides an excellent perspective for investigating the trend of European integration, especially the EU’s political integration capacity.