Democratization
Democratization (and the inverse, autocratization or democratic backsliding) are comparative fields of study of (positively) how democracy is established and (normatively) how its establishment can be encouraged.
Contents
Description
Democratization is a field of study approached by many competing theories and frameworks. As examples:
Some authors explore democratic backslide as a consequence of 'worsening' political polarization, and therefore apply affective polarization or constructivist methods. These typically lean into the normative side of the field.
Some authors explore autocracy as an instrument: an institution that is designed to extract benefits from one group for another. This is also an example of positive theory in this field.
Waves
This field has conceptualized three 'waves' of democratization.
The first wave was very general, starting somewhere in the 19th century and continuing until the rise of fascism.
The second wave followed WW2 and was characterized by decolonization.
The third wave began with Portugal and Spain, but is largely a story of Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe following the fall of the USSR.
There are then reactionary waves of autocratization that follow these:
- Obviously, the rise of fascism.
- Decolonization dropped off in the 1960s. The Cold War also saw several notable autocracies propped up.
In the context of the War on Terror and the Great Recession of 2008, many democracies have backslid. The Arab Spring is a notable counterpoint.
Reading Notes
Autocracy, Gordon Tullock, 1987
International Human Rights Law and Practice in Latin America, Ellen Lutz and Kathryn Sikkink, 2000
The Toddler In Chief, Daniel W. Drezner, 2020
Dodging the autocratic bullet: enlisting behavioural science to arrest democratic backsliding; Christoph M. Abels, Kiia Jasmin Alexandra Huttunen, Ralph Hertwig, and Stephan Lewandowsky; 2024
There Are No Adults in the Room, Daniel W. Drezner, 2025
Defending the Status Quo or Seeking Change? Electoral Outcomes, Affective Polarization, and Support for Referendums, Bjarn Eck and Emilien Paulis, 2025
Democratic Trajectories in the Third Wave: Aligning Theory and Methods, Aníbal Pérez-Liñán and Scott Mainwaring, 2025
Visibility of autocratization and election outcomes Erin Hern, 2025
Electoral participation and satisfaction with democracy in Central and Eastern Europe; Filip Kostelka, Lukáš Linek, Jan Rovny, and Michael Škvrňák; 2025
"Do I want it if we’ll lose it?" Democratic preferences of national minorities in federal states; Christoph Niessen, Sean Mueller, and Min Reuchamps; 2025
Survey measures of democratic attitudes and social desirability bias, Pedro C. Magalhães and Laurits Florang Aarslew, 2025