Democracy’s very survival is at the top of our readers’ minds this month. Democratic backsliding is a major concern, but democratic resilience appears shaky at best: Research shows that democracies often fail to bounce back after bouts of backsliding. And worse, citizens seem increasingly okay with illiberal alternatives if democracy is not delivering on its promises. Can anything be done? Read this month’s top ten essays to find out.
The Myth of Democratic Resilience
We must face an uncomfortable truth: Democracies often fail to reverse the damage after an authoritarian lapse, if they manage to recover at all. If we are to make our political systems more resilient, we must steel democracy against authoritarianism before it is too late.
Matías Bianchi, Nic Cheeseman, and Jennifer CyrCan Capitalism Save Democracy?
Capitalism is often blamed for democracy’s ills. But much of the blame is misplaced. It is not business capture of the state but rather state capture of business that poses the greatest danger to democracy.
Semuhi Sinanoglu, Lucan Way, and Steven LevitskyOn Democratic Backsliding
Old-fashioned military coups and blatant election-day fraud are becoming mercifully rarer these days, but other, subtler forms of democratic regression are a growing problem that demands more attention.
Nancy BermeoDelivering for Democracy: Why Results Matter
Voters around the world are losing faith in democracy’s ability to deliver and increasingly turning toward more authoritarian alternatives. To restore citizens’ confidence, democracies must show they can make progress without sacrificing accountability.
Francis Fukuyama, Chris Dann, and Beatriz MagaloniThe Anatomy of Democratic Backsliding
Can we recognize the symptoms of backsliding before it’s too late? Though the signals are sometimes faint, a new study of sixteen cases around the world reveals key dynamics common to all.
Stephan Haggard and Robert KaufmanReligious Exclusion and the Origins of Democracy
The most challenging type of diversity for democracy is religious diversity. This also helps explain why modern democracy first took root in Western Europe: Religiously homogenous populations went hand in hand with the early formation of parliaments.
Şener AktürkPolarization versus Democracy
Why do ordinary people vote to return to office undemocratic incumbents? New survey experiments in several countries suggest that many voters are willing to put their partisan interests above democratic principles — a finding that may be key to understanding democratic backsliding.
Milan W. SvolikMisunderstanding Democratic Backsliding
If democracies did a better job “delivering” for their citizens, so the thinking goes, people would not be so ready to embrace antidemocratic alternatives. Not so. This conventional wisdom about democratic backsliding is seldom true and often not accurate at all.
Thomas Carothers and Brendan HartnettDemocracy After Illiberalism: A Warning from Poland
Restoring liberalism after illiberalism is no easy task: Leaders face hard choices between acting quickly and effectively while maintaining a commitment to democratic procedure. Worse, their illiberal opponents stand to benefit either way.
Stanley Bill and Ben StanleyThe Return of Dictatorship
Alongside democratic backsliding is another, more pernicious phenomenon: dictatorial drift, where “soft” authoritarian regimes are opting to become highly repressive dictatorships. The West must develop new strategies to defend democracy across the globe.
Grzegorz Ekiert and Noah Dasanaike
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