Alessia Donà
After the Fratelli d’Italia victory in the 2022 Italian general election, a radical-right government formed, headed by party leader Giorgia Meloni. Alessia Donà explores gender issues in FdI ideology, and the party’s alliance with the Italian anti-gender movement. She finds the Meloni government is founded on reactionary Catholic extremism Read more
Rebecca Sanders
The reversal of Roe, bans on teaching about gender, and gunmen showing up at drag shows all are part of a trend in US and international politics. Rebecca Sanders and Laura Dudley Jenkins call it 'patriarchal populism'. They explain what patriarchal populism is, and three tactics used to undermine and attack established women’s and LGBTQ+ human rights Read more
Conny Roggeband
Opposition to gender equality, and a crackdown on women’s rights, characterise the wave of autocratisation across many parts of the world. We often regard such misogyny against women as a deviant trait of individual political leaders. But this is a misunderstanding, write Conny Roggeband and Andrea Krizsán Read more
Nojang Khatami
There are good reasons to consider resistance a central element in any definition of democracy. Nojang Khatami invites us to look outside familiar Western experiences for resources of dissent Read more
Jeffrey Haynes
Jeffrey Haynes argues that one of Africa’s most controversial leaders, the late Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana, began his political career as a fiery revolutionary and ended it as a popularly elected president via a liberal democratic political system. What explains this volte face? Was it ideological conversion or expediency? Read more
Fathali M. Moghaddam
Fathali M. Moghaddam puts forward a picture of 'actualised democracy' aimed at the equal participation of every person in all public decision-making. For it to succeed, today’s citizens need upskilling into 'democratic citizens' Read more
Jonathan Powell
Observers were quick to call the events on 8 January in Brazil a coup attempt. But Jonathan Powell and Salah Ben Hammou caution against conflating coup advocacy with coup attempts. Authoritarianism scholars should also note that usage of the term 'coup' has historically varied Read more
Anastasia Deligiaouri
Anastasia Deligiaouri argues that we should be wary of allowing incompatible concepts – such as 'illiberal democracy' – to dilute democracy’s essence. Rather, we must unravel and expunge the demons that lurk in democracies. By so doing, we will ensure this pluralism does not serve or fulfil autocratic desires Read more
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