Suchergebnisse

Democratic erosion has become the main path of movement away from democracy since 1990. Distinct from abrupt breakdowns like coups d'état, executive coups, military defeat, or foreign invasions, the erosion of democratic systems occurs as a gradual and incremental process, driven by legally elected incumbents and by legal means (or by upholding the façade of legal means). These incumbents are change agents who deliberately and actively endeavor to dismantle the democratic rules of the game. This text addresses some still unsolved but highly relevant conceptual issues in the ongoing research of democratic erosion: the delineation between democratic erosion and loss of democratic quality and the delineation between democratic erosion and autocratization. Moreover, the article focuses on two main features of democratic erosion — agency and incrementality — and suggests a model for the sequencing of democratic erosion.

President Hugo Chávez strove to change the socio‐political and economic system of his country, Venezuela. His revolutionary mission implied a strong regional projection and was intended to disseminate his transformative project in the wider region. This article focuses on the outward‐directed efforts of Chávez to shape his regional environment and examines the active and intended promotion of the Chavista model. The analysis shows that Chávez's mission was guided by four objectives: gaining ideological protagonism, facilitating the installation of like‐minded leaders, bolstering their persistence in power, and exporting his 'alternative' model of rule.

Digital media is ascribed significant potential for democratizing political communication and processes. There is still, however, a lack of empirical evidence and adequate understanding concerning the question of whether digital media can contribute to an improvement in democratic quality. In response to this question, the present article proposes a concept of e-democracy and an analytical framework for measuring it. The added value of such an e-democracy index is, firstly, that it provides a basis for assessing online-enhanced democratic processes (something which has previously been lacking) and, secondly, that it enables a finer-grained perspective on digital processes in democracies, something which is essential for scholars and practitioners.

"Dieser Beitrag behandelt den bislang vernachlässigten Bereich der Output-Legitimation in Autokratien jenseits von wirtschaftlicher Performanz. Untersucht wird die Rolle der Außenpolitik bei den Anstrengungen autokratischer Machthaber zur Sicherung von Stabilität und Machterhaltung. Das zentrale Erkenntnisinteresse lautet, ob und inwieweit Außenpolitik von autokratischen Machthabern genutzt werden kann, breite Anerkennung in der Bevölkerung und die Bindung von Schlüsselgruppen zu erzeugen. Dazu wird analysiert, wie Legitimationsstrategien und -diskurse konstruiert werden sowie ob und wie erfolgreich diese sind. In einem ersten Schritt wird ein konzeptioneller Zugang zur Analyse von Output-Legitimation vorgestellt. In einem zweiten Schritt erfolgt eine vergleichende Analyse, bei der verschiedene Legitimationsstrategien im Bereich der Außenpolitik identifiziert und Mechanismen bei der Gewinnung von Loyalität und Unterstützung freigelegt werden." (Autorenreferat)