This book examines the substance of European Union (EU) democracy promotion by comparing it with the norms of governance that the other international actors pro- mote, among them are the United Nations, the United States, the Central and East European EU member states, Russia, China and non-governmental organizations. This book offers a better understanding of the EU’s democracy promotion agenda and the (in)distinctiveness of the norms diffused by the EU. Building on a com- mon conceptual introduction, the chapters follow different theoretical approaches and research designs, and focus on a range of diverse case studies. This book con- cludes that, in comparison with the other international actors, the EU’s conceptual approach to democracy promotion is diffuse, which in turn makes the EU a particu- larly flexible but also ‘technical’ democracy promoter when it comes to implemen- tation. At the same time, there are limits to flexibility at the level of concepts and frames. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs. Anne Wetzel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany. Jan Orbie is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Centre for EU Studies at Ghent University, Belgium. Fabienne Bossuyt is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for EU Studies of the Department of Political Science at Ghent University, Belgium. Comparative Perspectives on EU Democracy Promotion AQ1 AQ2