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
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
Nick Vlahos
Nick Vlahos argues that to fully animate the data mountain that Jean-Paul Gagnon has amassed about the plurality and interrelation of democratic adjectives and forms, we must capture the way in which these variegated types of democracy enclose and open how the public can collectively govern 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
Abbey Heffer
Authoritarian regimes are not centralised monoliths. In China, authoritarian responses to protest can differ dramatically across localities. Abbey Heffer argues that research on regime-level authoritarianism often overlooks decentralisation. Studying aspects of authoritarianism, such as protest repression and concessions, requires a practice-based approach that reconciles national and localised authoritarianism Read more
Alex Prior
The ‘total texture’ of democracy exists, and we can observe it, argues Alex Prior. This is possible through a conceptualisation of this ‘texture’ as fractal: being complex and self-referential at every scale. Through this perspective, we can problematise long-standing – but nevertheless incomplete – analogies of democracy and democratisation Read more
Massimo D'Angelo
Next June, in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will seek election as President of the Republic for the third time. Massimo D’Angelo explains the opposition parties' joint strategy to defeat Erdoğan, including a pact to overhaul institutions and restore the rule of law 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
