Democracy & Autocracy in America Mini-Conference: Autocratization in the US?

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Part of Mini-Conference

• Democracy and Autocracy in America

Session Description

Enduring questions at the heart of our inquiry relate to the concepts and measures used to
understand the dynamics of democracy and autocracy. Recent claims about democratic
backsliding and autocratization, both in established democracies such as the United States, and
across the regime spectrum have reignited these debates. This panel will consider these recent
debates with the goal of understanding both the empirical trends, and what they can tell us
about the conceptualizations they use. What does the study of categories “in motion” reveal
about classification schemes? Do existing regime categories help or hinder our understanding of
political change? Does movement in one direction represent the mirror opposite of movement
in the other? What other dimensions might we incorporate to help us better capture the
present moment?

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Chair

• Amel F. Ahmed University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Presenters

• Vanessa Alexandra Boese

• Anna Luehrmann University of Gothenburg

• Robert Mickey University of Michigan

• Christopher S. Parker University of Washington

• Kenneth M. Roberts Cornell University