The International Dimension of Democratic Backsliding

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

RATIONALE OF ROUNDTABLE
The international context is an essential yet overlooked element of democratic backsliding, including autocratization. This roundtable aims to explore which international factors influence democratic backsliding, how they do so, and what they imply for international democracy support and protection. Understanding democratic backsliding does not go without understanding national and local dynamics. International factors connect with and influence domestic factors. We therefore need to gain a better understanding of the interplay between international and domestic factors in democratic backsliding. For political scientists, this implies that we need to combine insights and approaches from Comparative Politics and International Relations if we want to understand democratic backsliding.

FOCUS OF ROUNDTABLE
The roundtable’s point of departure will be David Samuels’ arguments in his article “The International Context of Democratic Backsliding: Rethinking the Role of Third Wave ‘Prodemocracy’ Global Actors in Perspectives on Politics” (2023). Accordingly, the roundtable will take a broad perspective on different international factors, including particular events such as 9/11 or the war in Ukraine, material global power shifts, and international norm-building and pro-active foreign policies of global and regional players. By so doing, it combines material and ideational perspectives.

GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS
What are material and ideational international sources of democratic backsliding? What are the consequences of these trends for the international support and protection of democracy? What are the implications for future research on democratic backsliding?

COMPOSITION OF THE ROUNDTABLE
We propose a roundtable of a diverse set of scholars from different fields, sub-disciplines and diverse regional focus.

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Chair

• Julia Leininger German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS, formerly German Development Institute)

Presenters

• David J. Samuels University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

• Tanja A. Boerzel Freie Universität Berlin

• Christina Cottiero University of Utah

• Seva Gunitsky University of Toronto

• Susan D. Hyde University of California, Berkeley

• Julia Leininger German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS, formerly German Development Institute)