Resilience of Democracy: Responses to Illiberal and Authoritarian Challenges

Illiberalism and authoritarianism are major threats to democracy, but democratic resilience is less studied. This book explores why some democracies are more resilient than others, the role of institutions, actors, and structural factors, and the options democratic actors have to address these challenges. It posits three potential reactions of democratic regimes: withstand without changes, adapt through internal changes, and recover without losing the democratic character.

Format: Hardback
Length: 174 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The rise of illiberalism and authoritarianism poses significant threats to democracy worldwide. In response to this concerning trend, research on the causes and processes of democratic decline has flourished, while the issue of democratic resilience has received relatively less scholarly attention. Why are certain democracies more resilient than others in the face of autocratization? What role do institutions, actors, and structural factors play in fostering or hindering democratic resilience? What options do democratic actors have to confront illiberal and authoritarian challenges?

This book aims to address these critical questions. In the introduction, a new concept of democratic resilience is introduced as the capacity of a democratic system, its institutions, political actors, and citizens to prevent or respond to external and internal challenges, stresses, and assaults. The book posits three potential reactions of democratic regimes: to withstand without changes, to adapt through internal changes, and to recover without losing the democratic character of its regime and its constitutive core institutions, organizations, and processes. The more democracies exhibit resilience on all four levels of the political system (political community, institutions, actors, and citizens), the less vulnerable they become to present and future threats.

This edited volume will be of immense value to students, academics, and researchers engaged in the study of politics, political regimes and theories, democracy and democratization, autocracy and autocratization, polarization, social democracy, and comparative government. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of "Democratization."

Weight: 503g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032426150