Sohela Nazeen
This year, millions of people in South Asia head to the polls. Potential outcomes of elections in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, however, do not bode well for women’s rights or gender equality, says Sohela Nazneen. The road ahead is difficult for women’s and LGBTQ+ struggles, as autocratic leaders consolidate power, and right-wing populists, digital repression, and violence against women and sexual minorities are all on the rise Read more
Saskia Brechenmacher
Saskia Brechenmacher, Erin Jones, and Özge Zihnioğlu write that gender is critical to understanding popular resistance against democratic erosion and autocratic hardening around the world Read more
Joseph Ward
The rise of authoritarian politics in ‘formal democracies’ across Europe has been met with various forms of protest. Some of these movements have achieved partial success. But evidence from the UK and France suggests that neoliberal governments are harnessing such resistance to accelerate authoritarianism and hostility towards marginalised people, write Joseph Ward and Thomas Da Costa Vieira Read more
James Dawson
The EU did not foresee how autocratisation would unfold in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). But political scientists failed to raise the alarm, too. Lise Herman, James Dawson and Aurelia Ananda show that optimistic assumptions about democratisation misled policy makers and researchers alike Read more
Diego Fossati
We typically associate populism with corrosive partisan polarisation. Indeed, populist rhetoric often denigrates opponents as 'enemies of the people'. But while polarisation can have negative effects on democracy, Diego Fossati argues that it may also bring unexpected benefits. Using cases from Southeast Asia, he offers some convincing evidence Read more
Gülşen Doğan
Over the past two years, the number of people living under populist governments has dropped by 800 million. Why? Gülşen Doğan explains the factors helping to overturn authoritarian rule, and reveals why authoritarian leaders have been unseated in some countries, but not in others Read more
Carl Henrik Knutsen
Billions of citizens will cast their vote in 2024, some in democratic and others in autocratic elections. Some of these elections, writes Carl Henrik Knutsen, could solidify autocrats’ hold on power. Others might help dethrone them – and thus open up potential avenues for democratisation Read more
Raquel Santos Fernandes
The less democratic the political regime, the more asymmetrical gender relations become. Raquel Santos Fernandes terms this phenomenon ‘gendering de-democratisation’. Based on data from Turkey, she explains how the process increasingly excludes women, and limits their experiences of citizenship in politics, in the economy, and in their intimate lives Read more
