Category: Democratic Backsliding

Yes, the world is getting more populist: what liberal democrats can learn

     

Your perception is accurate….. The world is becoming more populist, according to a new research project by the Guardian and Team Populism. Professor Kirk Hawkins, from Brigham Young University in… Read more »

How comparative insights and lessons magnify democratic renewal

     

Ideas, experiences, and lessons from other countries are not panaceas but, if properly researched, disseminated, and discussed, they can magnify democratic reform, say two leading analysts. The resounding success of Steven… Read more »

Is liberal democracy resilient enough to confront current challenges?

     

Democracy is “not a one-way street,” and democratic nations can fall back into authoritarianism, according to Mike Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, and Sanford School Dean Judith Kelley. They joined moderator… Read more »

The ‘four Ds’ behind populism’s revolt against liberal democracy

     

Populism is on the rise, with the number of identifiably populist governments around the world increasing five-fold in less than two decades, according to a mainstream analysis. In National Populism: The… Read more »

Understanding Central Europe’s illiberal metamorphosis

     

To understand Central Europe ’s illiberal metamorphosis, bear in mind that the region’s political imperative for almost three decades was “Imitate the West!” That process went by different names –… Read more »

‘Springtime for Strongmen’? Explaining the rise of populist authoritarians

     

How are we to understand the resurgence of authoritarianism? What form does it now take? What responsibility do elites bear for its success? These are among the most important questions… Read more »

How democracies slide into authoritarianism

     

In “The Captive Mind,” Czeslaw Milosz documented the collusion that accompanies democracy’s collapse. While his message holds special relevance for those living in autocracies, its resonance extends to both free… Read more »

‘Neo-autocracy’: turning democracy into a tool of oppression

     

Władysław Frasyniuk (above) championed democracy in the face of Communist rule in Poland in the 80s. Now, he warns the freedom he fought for is starting to slip away. (The… Read more »

How democracy is destabilized

     

On Saturday, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a maverick leftist, will become president of Mexico and launch what he has called the country’s “fourth transformation.” A month later, Jair Bolsonaro, a… Read more »

Opposition aims to rescue Bangladesh’s ‘decaying democracy’

     

The announcement of a schedule for the next general election in Bangladesh has triggered hope of a credible poll but also concern about more political violence across the Muslim-majority South Asian nation,… Read more »