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Thomas M. Keck (Syracuse University - Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) has posted Free Speech in an Age of Democratic Backsliding (International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2023) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This review essay draws on...

Article by Meghna Pamula Although democracy has greatly expanded globally over the past few decades, democratic backsliding has been a topic of concern over recent years. Democratic backsliding is the state-led debilitation or elimination of the institutions sustaining democracy. Democracy is made up of factors such as voting rights, freedom of the governed, and minority […]
The post Income Inequality and Democratic Backsliding appeared first on The Lowe Down.

The topic of the next elections to the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine unexpectedly surfaced in public discourse towards the end of spring this year. Julia Kyrychenko and Olha Ivasiuk's recent article on Verfassungsblog outlines major legal and practical obstacles to holding wartime elections in Ukraine. In their illuminating analysis, the authors make a strong case against wartime elections, a viewpoint largely shared by civil society. My argument is a bit different. I will argue that (1) wartime parliamentary elections are expressis verbis inconsistent with the Ukrainian Constitution, and (2) wartime elections would undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and potentially lead to democratic backsliding.

Since the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the federal elections in India in 2014, the country's performance in key indicators of democratic quality has suffered. Over the course of its two terms in power, the party has sought to subvert key institutions for accountability, enact an ethno-cultural majoritarian electoral agenda, and use federal law enforcement agencies against their political opponents. While there is extensive literature on the erosion of civil-political rights in the past ten years, the effects of the BJP government on social rights like education and healthcare remain under-explored. Therefore, in this post, I explore three striking dimensions of primary educational policy under the BJP government.

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In the Berlin Perspectives series, the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) presents analyses of Germany's European policy to an English-speaking audience. The authors analyse German positions on current debates and provide policy recommendations based on their findings.The latest policy brief by York Albrecht is re-published on this blog in an extended version. You can find the

As we witness a rise in radical right politics in Europe and beyond, our host ⁠Cassandra van Douveren⁠ speaks to ⁠Dr. Vicente Valentim⁠, a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. Vicente's work focusses on the role of social norms in normalising the expression of views and behaviours associated with authoritarianism. Join us as we discuss his upcoming book, ⁠The Normalisation of the Radical Right: A Norms Theory of Political Supply and Demand⁠ (forthcoming: September 2024), pathways to restore democratic norms and Vicente's hopes for the future. Politics, Re-Imagined is a series by the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) at the University of Oxford focused on exploring tangible and sustainable solutions to the ...

Our ancestors taught us how to defeat autocracy in the U.S.; we should heed them. It's tempting to start a 10-year retrospective on...

Recent events, such as the US capitol insurrection have raised concerns about the erosion of democracy and democratic norms in the United States. In new survey research, Daniel Goldstein takes a close look at Americans' attitudes to those who would break democratic norms, such as a commitment to fair elections. He finds that many Americans … Continued

The election of Senegal's new president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is a glimmer of hope in an era of democratic backsliding. As a young leader himself, he should seek to inspire a democratic revival among young Africans.

As the European Union (EU) steadily approaches the 2024 elections scheduled for June, attention is focused on the likely formation of a coalition between the conservatives (EPP) and the socialists (S&D). However, amidst this political landscape, a chorus of concern is emerging about the EU's tendency towards authoritarianism, underlined in particular by democratic backsliding in Hungary and Italy (Pietrucci, 2023). Projections indicate a potential consolidation of influence by two far-right factions, namely the Identity and Democracy (ID) and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), alongside the independent Hungarian Fidesz, amounting to a considerable 25 per cent share of parliamentary seats (Wax, 2024). Concurrently, the proliferation of radical ideologies within the EPP poses a significant challenge to the wider European sphere, with ...

Unified citizenship education is a must to stop democratic backsliding in the European Union.

This week we ask: how should the European Union handle the political, social, and economic diversity amongst its member states – and what can it do about democratic backsliding?

Guatemala's elections demonstrate that democratic backsliding is on the march. While there is great energy for a new presidential candidate with plans to strengthen government and democratic accountability, establishment parties and candidates are unlikely to accommodate these demands.

After years of anxiety about democratic backsliding, the next few months will tell us a lot about the state of popular government around the world. In October, Argentina will elect a new president to succeed ...

Yaniv Roznai (Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya - Radzyner School of Law) has posted Clownstitutionalism: Making a Joke of the Constitution by Abuse of Constituent Power on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In the era of populism and democratic backsliding, more...