TY - JOUR
T1 - The International Context of Democratic Backsliding
T2 - Rethinking the Role of Third Wave Prodemocracy Global Actors
AU - Samuels, David J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association.
PY - 2023/9/4
Y1 - 2023/9/4
N2 - We know much about how democracies die: elites and masses become polarized, and norms of mutual toleration, forbearance, and institutional restraint erode. But why do elites feel free to undermine these guardrails of democracy? What are the sources of backsliding? Answers to these questions have focused on the impact of economic and cultural change, and on autocratic meddling. I consider another potential source of backsliding around the world: the impact of the reconfiguration of global politics after the Cold War and 9/11 on politics in the main prodemocratic actors that Samuel Huntington highlighted in his book The Third Wave: the United States, the European Union, and the Vatican. Today, the international context gives leaders in these global powers relatively weaker incentives to stand up for democracy, even in the face of aggressive meddling from Russia and China. Changes in international politics has left democracy with weaker ideational support in the global arena, potentially facilitating backsliding.
AB - We know much about how democracies die: elites and masses become polarized, and norms of mutual toleration, forbearance, and institutional restraint erode. But why do elites feel free to undermine these guardrails of democracy? What are the sources of backsliding? Answers to these questions have focused on the impact of economic and cultural change, and on autocratic meddling. I consider another potential source of backsliding around the world: the impact of the reconfiguration of global politics after the Cold War and 9/11 on politics in the main prodemocratic actors that Samuel Huntington highlighted in his book The Third Wave: the United States, the European Union, and the Vatican. Today, the international context gives leaders in these global powers relatively weaker incentives to stand up for democracy, even in the face of aggressive meddling from Russia and China. Changes in international politics has left democracy with weaker ideational support in the global arena, potentially facilitating backsliding.
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U2 - 10.1017/S1537592722003334
DO - 10.1017/S1537592722003334
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85160243329
SN - 1537-5927
VL - 21
SP - 1001
EP - 1012
JO - Perspectives on Politics
JF - Perspectives on Politics
IS - 3
ER -