Dawud Ansari
De-orientalising the scholarship on the Arab Gulf states is crucial, argues Dawud Ansari. Commentaries and datasets generalise them as ‘monarchies’, erasing vital differences between these countries. New terms are a starting point for transforming research on the wider region – an urgent objective given new crises and freshened global interest Read more
Maria Gloria Polimeno
COP27 will be held in Egypt, where environmentalism is being turned into new ways to control nature and citizens' lives under al-Sisi. This risks legitimating bio-autocracies, and it exposes the cowardice of green capitalism and sustainable neoliberalism, writes Maria Gloria Polimeno Read more
Guido Panzano
The likely installation of a neo-fascist Prime Minister has generated considerable fears for the future of Italian democracy. Guido Panzano argues that we should use the tools available in political science to arrive at a more scientific understanding of the prospects for the quality of Italian democracy under such a government Read more
Emilia Simison
We associate authoritarian regimes with certain policies. However, the relationship between regime type and policy is not straightforward – and not all transitions towards authoritarianism bring policy change. To better understand this, Emilia Simison suggests paying attention to differences within authoritarian regimes and how the adjectives of autocracy affect policy Read more
Luca Manucci
We have, in the intellectual world, spent much time trying to understand populism, fascism, illiberalism and the processes of autocratisation. Now, argues Luca Manucci, it is time to debate and establish the best strategies to fight against these tendencies and establish democratic resilience Read more
Phil Paine
Phil Paine is reminded of the caterpillar who, when asked in which order it moved each of its feet, found itself ‘distracted in a ditch, wondering how it walked’. He suspects that there are misapprehensions about the role of definitions in advancing democracy Read more
Luca Manucci
Luca Manucci argues that illiberalism and autocratisation have too readily been labelled as ‘populism’, an all-embracing concept which simply helps to provide cover to the neo-fascist cause. This has led to surprise when a politician like Giorgia Meloni, leading a party with neo-fascist roots, reaches the brink of power Read more
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 Read more
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