Populism, Nationalism and Backsliding: How Oppositions and Minorities Respond

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

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For two decades after the collapse of communism, scholars tended to identify a trend of democratic progress among the post-communist states joining the European Union. Today, echoing trends in the wider transatlantic world, the narrative of political progress is contested if not dead, replaced by democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism. For several post-communist states, the dynamics are remarkably similar to those taking place in other parts of the European Union: The dismantling of counter-majoritarian institutions is accompanied by polarization of the party system as political competition shifts to issues of identity and populist parties take positions defending “the people.”

Yet there is tremendous variation in how political competition is playing out across the region. Our papers examine how the opposition chooses to react to the success of illiberal populists, and how these dynamics are impacted by a country’s ethnic diversity. Coalition formation, ethnic heterogeneity and legacies of nationhood are among many factors that shape competition. We explore the variation in how opposition political parties and other domestic actors, including civil society, respond to the democratic threat presented by incumbent populists. What accounts for this, and which positions and strategies are the most politically effective?

We also see a surprising result across the region: It is ethnically homogenous countries that have so far experienced severe de-democratization. Why have ethno-populist parties fallen short of power in heterogeneous countries? The papers explain whether and how the presence of politically powerful ethnic minority groups may make countries less susceptible to the destabilization caused by the populist wave. The papers also address different sources of polarization, such as identity politics that may, paradoxically, increase party competition and therefore inadvertently act as a wall against a dominant party rule.

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Individual Presentations

• Populists and the Parties that Oppose Them - Courtney Blackington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Milada Anna Vachudova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Does Ethnic Heterogeneity Restrain Democratic Backsliding? - Jan Rovny, Sciences Po

• Diverse yet Durable? Interethnic Coalitions and Government Stability - Katharine Aha, Southwestern University

• Polarization and Democratic Decay in Central Europe - Lenka Bustikova, Arizona State University; Petra R. Guasti, Goethe University Frankfurt

Chair

• Grigore Pop-Eleches Princeton University

Discussants

• Anna M. Grzymala-Busse Stanford University

• Steve Fish University of California, Berkeley