The Politics of Democratic Backsliding: Executive Measures and Counter-Reactions

Abstract

Among the manifold forms of democratic erosion, democratic backsliding stands out as a process in which a democratically elected executive deliberately subverts the fundamental rules of the game (Bermeo 2016). To aggrandize their power, incumbent governments can take various measures. They may curtail political rights or jeopardize the rule of law by formal regulations but also employ informal restrictions against opposition parties, independent media and civil society. Furthermore, they usually do not realize their autocratic aspirations at once but proceed in incremental steps beginning with minor reforms that might pave the way for more severe actions later. While the extant literature generally accounts for the procedural and dynamic nature of democratic backsliding, less attention is given to the different means taken by executives in this process as well as the varying resistance they meet from oppositional actors. A systematic exploration of such measures and counter-reactions is warranted, as it reveals both the backsliding strategy of the executive but also the forces behind the resilience of liberal democracies. This panel focuses on executive measures towards democratic backsliding and respective counter-reactions in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. More concretely, we invite case studies and comparative analyses that conceptualize the various formal and informal tools in the arsenal of state presidents and prime ministers to pursue their anti-democratic agenda; systematically explore their usage in different contexts and over time; and/or explain their amplification or reversal in view of the responses by other actors.

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