Democracy vs. Political Entrepreneurs: Abandoning Democracy for the Nation

• In Event: Innovative Approaches to Studying Democratic Backsliding and Resilience

Abstract

In many countries in recent years the appeals to safeguard national interests have been followed by democratic backsliding. What is more, the data of the experimental survey that we conducted show that such a scenario threatens many democracies beyond existing empirical cases. In all countries under investigation, both established and flawed democracies, we can observe the willingness of voters to forgive undemocratic behavior of a candidate who promises to protect national identity-related interests. Drawing on empirical evidence from two countries (Poland and Serbia) in which substantial democratic backsliding occurred recently, this paper depicts why, when, and how democracy is subverted in the name of national identity (group)-related interests. Using the process tracing, the paper demonstrates that in Poland and Serbia political entrepreneurs strategically employed ethno-nationalist appeals to subvert democracy. More concretely, Polish and Serbian political entrepreneurs politicized in-group identity, which was followed by the development of an us vs. them thinking in the population. This in turn increased the willingness of voters to tolerate undemocratic behavior and provided an opportunity for political entrepreneurs to weaponize in-group identity against democracy. The paper also discloses psychological underpinnings of the success of such a strategy.

Author

• Filip Milacic, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung