How Democracy Fails: Patterns of Autocratization in Comparative Perspective

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

After contemporary assessments about “freedom in retreat” (Freedom House) or “democratic rollback” (Larry Diamond) started to emerge in 2008, they were frequently challenged. At that time, global averages of democracy indicators had merely reached a plateau and democracies had not shown serious problems. Meanwhile, there is mounting evidence that democratization across the world is seriously in trouble – see for instance the gradual adoption of illiberal practices in Turkey or Russia that led to democracy’s demise there. Furthermore, the election of Donald Trump raised concerns about the state of democracy even in United States. Autocratization – the gradual or sudden demise of democratic regime traits – increasingly emerges as the key challenge of the 21st century. Against this backdrop, it is unfortunate that most contemporary studies on regime change focus how and why democracy spreads (with some notable exceptions such as Bermeo 2016 and Lust/Waldner 2018). Thus, further research on how autocratization occurs in the 21st century is warranted. In what regards are contemporary challenges to democracy different from historical ones? How can we measure and compare autocratization processes? In order to address these questions, the papers assembled in our panel shed light on different patterns of autocratization processes in a comparative perspective.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 11: Comparative Politics

Individual Presentations

• Democratic Civic Culture or Cheap Talk? A New Measure of Support for Democracy - Milan Svolik, Yale University

• Contemporary Autocratization as a Game of Deception - Anna Luehrmann, University of Gothenburg; Staffan I. Lindberg, University of Gothenburg

• Eroding Regimes: What, Where, and When? - Michael J. Coppedge, University of Notre Dame

• Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy? Lessons from Comparative Politics - Andreas Schedler, CIDE, Mexico City

Chair

• Anna Luehrmann University of Gothenburg

Discussants

• Ellen M. Lust University of Gothenburg

• Joseph Wright Pennsylvania State University