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This book advances ongoing debates on democratic backsliding and autocratization with specific reference to Africa. It offers a carefully developed theoretical framework and, unlike many previous studies, adds an international dimension to the analyses of autocratization processes on the continent.

Introduction: 'Despots masquerading as democrats' -- Chapter 1: What is Democracy? -- Chapter 2: How Democracy Backslides? -- Chapter 3: Processes and sequences of backsliding -- Chapter 4: Five cases of backsliding and the rise of autocrats -- Conclusion: What did we learn?.

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction: Venezuela-Dimensions of the Crisis -- History and Theory -- Can an Evolutionary Order Be Schizophrenic? Reading Venezuelan Politics from an Institutionalist Perspective -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 The Problem of Social Order -- 1.2 Changes in the Institutional Setting -- 1.3 Predatory Normativity -- 2 Conclusions -- References -- Ideological Aspects of Venezuela's Current Divide -- 1 Political Ideologies and Languages -- 2 Ideological Conflicts in Venezuelan History -- 3 Opposed Ideological Outlooks in Current Venezuela -- 4 Conclusions -- References -- The Quest for Democracy: Venezuela in the Twentieth and Twentyfirst Centuries -- 1 Introduction -- 2 On the Way to Modernity -- 3 On the Road to Democracy -- 4 On the Way to the Crisis -- 5 Economic Crisis and Attempts of Reform -- 6 Political Crisis -- 7 The Rise of Hugo Chávez -- 8 Democratic Backsliding Under Chávez and Maduro -- 9 Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Domestic Dimensions of The Crisis: Actors, Parties and Problems -- Multiple Crises of the Venezuelan Party System -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Chavismo: Hindering Representation -- 2.1 Incentivizing an Anti-party Culture -- 2.2 Removing Public Funds for Political Parties -- 2.3 Control Over the Electoral Management Body -- 2.4 Manipulating Electoral Rules -- 2.5 Banning and Party Intervention -- 2.6 Disqualification of Candidates -- 2.7 Bribery of Candidates -- 2.8 Distrust Among Opponents -- 2.9 Harassment of Opposition Leaders, Party Militants, and Sympathizers -- 3 Conclusions -- Appendix -- Methodological Annex -- References -- Discretionality and Disarticulation in the Venezuelan Public Administration -- 1 Epistemological Assumptions, Theoretical Justifications, and Methodological Guide -- 1.1 Epistemological Framework -- 1.2 Theoretical Corpus -- 1.3 Methodological Approach.

Liberal democracy is at risk. Its hallmark institutions - political pluralism, separation of powers, and rule of law-are coming under pressure, as authoritarian sentiment is growing around the globe. While liberal-democratic backsliding features prominently in social science scholarship, especially the branches concerned with political parties and political behavior, public administration research lags behind. However, without considering illiberal approaches towards the executive, efforts of actual and aspiring authoritarians remain only partly understood. State bureaucracies are, after all, important instruments of power. This timely and important volume addresses the administrative implications of liberal-democratic backsliding. It studies public administrations as objects and subjects in the context of illiberal dynamics. For this purpose, the volume brings together an international group of scholars to analyze authoritarian tendencies in several countries. The contributions combine theoretical with empirical work, providing the first comparative perspective on an overlooked aspect of one of the most important contemporary political trends.

"The book provides analysis of causes of democratic backsliding in Poland. The authors propose to take a closer look at historical and identity aspects, economic factors, social and political polarization, institutions, parties and role of external factors (e.g. European Union) - as issues strongly contributing to this process"--

Assaults on democracy are increasingly coming from the actions of duly elected governments, rather than coups. Backsliding examines the processes through which elected rulers weaken checks on executive power, curtail political and civil liberties, and undermine the integrity of the electoral system. Drawing on detailed case studies, including the United States and countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa, the book focuses on three, inter-related causal mechanisms: the pernicious effects of polarization; realignments of party systems that enable elected autocrats to gain legislative power; and the incremental nature of derogations, which divides oppositions and keeps them off balance. A concluding chapter looks at the international context of backsliding and the role of new technologies in these processes. An online appendix provides detailed accounts of backsliding in 16 countries, which can be found at www.cambridge.org/backsliding.

"In the past two decades, democratically elected executives across the world have used their popularity to push for legislation that, over time, destroys systems of checks and balances, hinders free and fair elections, and undermines political rights and civil liberties. Using and abusing institutions and institutional reform, some executives have transformed their countries' democracies into competitive authoritarian regimes. Others, however, have failed to erode democracy. What explains these different outcomes? Resisting Backsliding answers this question. With a focus on the cases of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, the book shows that the strategies and goals of the opposition are key to understanding why some executives successfully erode democracy and others do not. By highlighting the role of the opposition, this book emphasizes the importance of agency for understanding democratic backsliding and shows that even weak oppositions can defeat strong potential autocrats"--

Chapter 1: Democratic Decline and Rising Autocratization in Southeast Asia: An Organizing Framework -- Chapter 2: At the Sharp Edge of Power: Philippines-China Relations and Democratic Erosion under Duterte -- Chapter 3: Anies Baswedan and Substate Populism in Jakarta, Indonesia -- Chapter 4: In Limbo: Islamist Populism and Democratic Stagnation in Malaysia -- Chapter 5: Democratic Backsliding in Malaysia: Executive Aggrandizement under Muhyiddin Yassin's Government -- Chapter 6: Propagating and Resisting Authoritarian Innovation Online: Thailand's 'ROTC Cyber' Activity. Chapter 7: Rural Grassroots Governance-Building in Myanmar -- Chapter 8: Returned Migrants and Democratization in Village Head Elections in Indonesia: A Glimpse of Hope from Indramayu -- Chapter 9: Regimes, Repression, Repertoires: Student Protest Movements and the Repertoires of Contention in the Philippines and Indonesia -- Chapter 10: Myanmar: From Hybrid Democracy to Violent Autocracy.

Democratic Vulnerabilities and Pathways for Reform / Suzanne Mettler, Robert C. Lieberman, Jamila Michener, Thomas B. Pepinsky, and Kenneth M. Roberts -- Democratic Capacity: Election Administration as Bulwark and Target / Lawrence R. Jacobs and Judd Choate -- Delegitimization, Deconstruction and Control: Undermining the Administrative State / Donald Moynihan -- The Supreme Court and the Dynamics of Democratic Backsliding / Aziz Z. Huq -- "Good Citizens" in Democratic Hard Times / Sara Wallace Goodman -- White Racial Solidarity and Opposition to American Democracy / Ashley Jardina and Robert Mickey -- Threats or Gains: The Battle over Participation in America's Careening Democracy / Dan Slater -- The Far-Right Threat in the United States: A European Perspective / Cas Muddle -- Challenges to Subnational Democracy in the United States, Past and Present / Robert Mickey -- The Growing Rural-Urban Political Divide and Democratic Vulnerability / Suzanne Mettler and Trevor Brown -- American Federalism, Political Inequality, and Democratic Erosion / Jacob M. Grumbach and Jamila Michener -- Moderation, Realignment, or Transformation? Evaluating Three Approaches to America's Crisis of Democracy / Lee Drutman -- Civil Society, Realized: Equipping the Mass Public to Express Choice and Negotiate Power / Hahrie Han and Jae Yeon Kim -- Can Black Lives Matter within U.S. Democracy? / Megan Ming Francis

"This insightful text rigorously examines and accounts for contemporary developments - and crucially a reversal of 'democraticness' - in democratic polities and related political processes comparing 38 democracies across the world. The focus is on contemporary developments and recent volatile levels of democraticness. Democracies in Peril? introduces theoretical backgrounds of what makes democracy tick and scrutinizes empirical trends and development in 'democraticness' in an accessible manner. It explores what 'democracy' as a political regime implies and how the liberal democratic model developed, as well as examining the present state of affairs in democracies, the challenges democracies encounter and the perils of democracy as a legitimate system of governance in the 21st century. The book provides a 'systemic' approach to adjudicate the effects of this assumed reversal in democratization in terms of popular preferences, party behaviour, institutional architecture and policy performance. The effects of public policy formation and the role of the state on actual democratic performance are also analysed. Finally, case studies on the Covid pandemic and the development of social welfare demonstrate the complex relationship between government capacities - under pressure - and the quality of democracy, approaching the question: How do 38 democratic states cope with societal problems, populist tendencies and a fast-changing world without degrading their institutional quality and legitimacy? This text will be of key interest to students, scholars, journalists and interested readers of comparative politics, democratization, public administration, political economy, constitutional law, and the social sciences in general"--

"How effective are democracy clauses of regional integration organizations (RIOs) in promoting democratization and democratic consolidation among member-states? RIOs are increasingly adopting "democracy only" clauses in their treaties, requiring democracy and political stability as a condition of membership. Stable democracy is a collective good for RIO members; without political stability, uncertainty regarding economic exchange increases, undermining the promise of integration. The presence of powerful countries may be necessary for the RIOs to legalize democratic conditionality. In this book, the authors argue that once established democracy clauses exert an independent influence in promoting and defending democratic norms and institutions within the member-states by increasing the transparency and credibility of democratic commitment and sanctions for violation. The findings based on the analysis of 40 RIOs around the world and in-depth analysis of the European Union, the Common Market of the South, and the Economic Community of West African States indicate that RIO democracy clauses help prevent democratic backsliding and coups and stimulate democratization and consolidation. With its global scope, originality, and theoretical rigor, this is the first book to catalogue democracy clauses adopted by RIOs worldwide with a thorough analysis of their effectiveness"--

Introduction: Populist Parties, Pluralism and Democratic Systems in Europe -- Varieties of Populism in East-Central Europe: From Democratic Challenge to Illiberal Project -- Explaining Democratic Backsliding in Poland: The Interplay of Party-specific and Contextual Factors -- Anti-pluralist Reactions to an Anti-pluralist Party: The 'Alternative for Germany' and the German Party System -- Making a Wor(l)d of Difference? The National Front's Anti-pluralist Stands and their Evolution Over Time -- Protector of the People or Enemy of Democracy? Vlaams Belang's Anti-pluralist Discourse and Institutional Barriers in the Flemish Political System -- Party System Hospitality, Internal Strife, and Radicalisation: The Evolution of the Partij voor de Vrijheid and the Forum voor Democratie in the Netherlands -- Taming Populist Anti-pluralism? The Effect of Changing Centre-right Strategies on the Austrian Freedom Party -- The Five Star Movement and its Challenge to the Pluralistic Foundations of Italian Democracy -- The Conditioning of Podemos by Mainstream PSOE between 2014 and 2020: From Transformative Populism to Mainstream Centre-left Coalition Partner -- Conclusion: How to Channel Populism in Europe Democratically.

Democratic transition is a very complex phenomenon. It relies on the outcome of the political competition between key actors during its initial stages, as well as on economic, social, and structural constraints inherited from the previous authoritarian regime. The book compares both series of factors by focusing on citizens' democratic engagement and on political elites' behavior. Despite a strong path-dependency to the previous authoritarian structures and low levels of initial democratic resources, citizens made proof of remarkable willingness to support democracy. By street protests, they even pressured political populist elites in power to abandon radical undemocratic regime changes. Romania managed therefore to maintain its European course and to avoid serious democratic backsliding