Rachel Beatty Riedl, Jennifer McCoy, Kenneth Robers, Murat Somer: Pathways of Democratic Backsliding, Resistance, and (Partial) Recoveries

The latest issue of the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science is guest edited by Rachel Beatty Riedl, our Research Affiliate Jennifer McCoy, Kenneth Roberts and our Global Forum Fellow Murat Somer, who also co-authored the introduction to the volume.

“We provide an analytical framework that identifies three distinct institutional pathways for democratic backsliding that culminate in executive aggrandizement: legislative capture, plebiscitary override, and executive power grabs,” they write in the abstract. “We also identify a fourth pathway of elite collusion that erodes democracy without necessarily concentrating powers in the executive. These four pathways reflect different combinations of ruling and opposition party strength, institutional legitimacy, and levels of popular support and political mobilization. The pathways also open and close different institutional and societal arenas where opposition forces can counter backsliding, and they create different opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas for democratic actors. The 15 case studies featured in this volume illustrate how backsliding occurs along these pathways, and how democratic actors achieved partial reversal in some cases. The cases also suggest focal points of resistance and institutional and programmatic reform that may be helpful to policymakers and advocates working to defend democracy.”

Riedl, R. B., McCoy, J., Roberts, K., & Somer, M. (2025). Pathways of democratic backsliding, resistance, and (partial) recoveries. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 712(1), 8–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162251319909 (Original work published 2024)

Read the article here.