Rising autocratization in democracies

The project "The shadow of democracy: Rising autocratization in democracies", based at the European University Viadrina,  investigates how a country's experience with democracy influences processes of autocratization. In political science, it has long been assumed that democracies stabilise and strengthen themselves after a certain period of time. However, recent developments, such as in Hungary, which has gone from being a model of democratization to a prime example of autocratization, call this assumption into question.

The project Rising autocratization in democracies aims to explore the factors that influence the resilience of democracies to autocratization and to understand what distinguishes democracies from other regimes. The main research question is how a country's political opportunity structures and democratic experiences influence potential autocratization. Three specific research questions are addressed:

1. are democracies more resilient to autocratization than other regimes?

2. how do the interactions between autocratic governments and their opponents differ in democratic and non-democratic regimes?

3. under what conditions can autocratization be stopped in (formerly) democratic countries?

In order to answer these questions, a three-part research approach will be pursued, including statistical analyses, comparative case studies and systematic evaluations of autocratization processes in specific countries. The project contributes to understanding how democracies can survive in times of autocratization and which factors play a role in this.