Articles by Akudo McGee

October 26, 2023

Polish parliamentary elections are a win for civil society but change will take some time

Akudo McGee

The results of the Polish parliamentary elections suggest that a coalition of the opposition will lead the next government. This is good news for civil society, which faced constant threats under the current Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, Akudo McGee warns that challenges still lie ahead for civil society

September 27, 2022

♟️ Autocratic legalism: the ‘silent’ authoritarianism

Akudo McGee

All regimes have courts but through so-called ‘autocratic legalism’, autocrats leverage them to consolidate regimes without initially raising red flags. Akudo McGee argues that autocratic legalism easily flies under the radar because early warning signs of autocratisation are subtle. Indicators of autocratisation, therefore, need better taxonomies of authoritarianism to work

August 24, 2021

🌊 Citizens pay the highest price for illiberal governments

Akudo McGee

Escalating rule of law crises in Poland and Hungary have led to calls for their expulsion from the European Union. Yet, argues Akudo McGee, such calls overlook the fact that the true losers of Polexit or Hungexit won’t be unruly governments

November 23, 2020

Polish citizens protest against the new abortion law – while civil society itself becomes ever more divided

Akudo McGee

Enraged by Poland’s new abortion law, thousands of protestors filled the streets in late October. Many protests were organised by liberal civil society organisations, yet, argues Akudo McGee, it is precisely through civil society that the government has been able to exert its anti-liberal agenda

Akudo McGee

PhD Candidate, Maastricht University

Akudo's research interests include illiberalism, EU integration, norm contestation, and the role of civil society under illiberal governments.

Her current research focuses on threats to liberal democracy in Poland since 2015 with a special focus on how civil space has been mobilised by threats to the rule of law and human rights in-country.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in German Language and Cultural Studies and a Master of Arts from the University of Amsterdam in European Studies: Identity and Integration.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847596

She tweets @Akudo_at_FASoS

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