Patterns of Autocratization in Multi-Level Democracies

Abstract

The democratization and autocratization literatures (Cassani and Tomini 2018; Lurhmann et al. 2018) have long explored the functioning and evolution of political regimes. However, most of democratization and autocratization studies has underestimated and neglected a crucial element: the territorial dimension of democracy. Yet, the possibility that the political and institutional interactions between supranational, national and sub-national levels of governments would have an impact on political changes in a democratic (or autocratic) direction of a country is something that should be taken into account when evaluating the qualities of democracy and the process of political change. In a time of increasing alarm for liberal democracies (Plattner 2015), this panel aims to fill a gap in the literature on political regimes, regime changes and territorial politics by focusing on the relationship between the territorial structures of the state and the processes of political change both in democratic and autocratic directions. In particular, the panel aims at investigating how the interplay between national and subnational authorities affects autocratization processes in different regions of the world (Europe, Latin America, Middle East, etc). The panel aims at exploring thus the following research question: how and to what extent do the territorial structures of the state affect autocratization processes in a country? The panel welcomes both theoretical and empirical papers. While comparative empirical studies are preferred, case studies are also welcome.

Title	Details
Democratisation and Regional Political Elites	View Paper Details
Methodological Sub-Nationalism and Measures of Quality of Democracy	View Paper Details
The Trade-Off Between Democracy and Territorial Reform: Measuring the Representation of the People in the Belgian Federation	View Paper Details
Theoretical Approaches for Studying Democratization and Autocratization at Subnational Level	View Paper Details
Comparing How Causal Mechanisms Link Social Movement Campaigns and Subnational Authoritarian Enclave Democratization in Isabela, the Philippines and Oaxaca, Mexico.	View Paper Details