Democratization
@democratization.bsky.social
Leading scholarly journal on how democratic norms, institutions and practices evolve and disseminate or retract within and across national and cultural boundaries.
A comment on the recent special issue on authoritarian informationalism (ed. by Lisa Garbe & @seraphinemaerz.bsky.social), written by S. Harrison Knudson. www.linkedin.com/pulse/intern...
The Internet Was Supposed to Fix This. It Made It Worse.
The Internet Was Supposed to Fix This. It Made It Worse.
linkedin.com
What was done during the Biden presidency to protect American elections in case a future President was inclined to rig them? Was any of it effective? My new article on this topic was just published in @democratization.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1351... It's open access. Should be an easy read.
Safeguarding American democracy: resisting electoral manipulation after the attack on the Capitol
This article presents a case study of resisting electoral manipulation in the United States between the 2020 and 2024 elections. This time was an interlude between two autocratization episodes, whi...
tandfonline.com
How do people react to different forms of election manipulation in politically polarized settings? New from me at Democratization @democratization.bsky.social, with survey-experimental evidence from Georgia 🇬🇪: doi.org/10.1080/1351...
Polarization and the legitimacy costs of electoral manipulation tactics: survey-experimental results from the 2024 election in Georgia
Elections can be manipulated in a variety of ways, both legal and illegal. Legal, or formal, electoral manipulation is common, while illegal manipulation is somewhat more variable. This variation h...
doi.org
New special issue: “The rise of authoritarian informationalism” ed. by Lisa Garbe (@wzb.bsky.social) + @seraphinemaerz.bsky.social. It brings together work on how digital and analogue tools are reshaping authoritarian power across borders and regime types. Link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The rise of authoritarian informationalism: escalating surveillance, manipulation, and control
The past decade has witnessed a transformation in the study of authoritarian governance, with increasing attention paid to how digital technologies reshape strategies of regime survival. While init...
tandfonline.com
My latest with Balazs Szent-Ivanyi Full article: There and back again: democratization, autocratization and democratic resilience Here we introduce the “Fifty Years of the Third Wave” Special Issue @democratization.bsky.social
📖 European democratic resilience: how does institutional, societal, and transnational resilience resist authoritarian threats — or drive deeper democratic renewal? Richard Youngs and Elene Panchulidze wrote for @democratization.bsky.social 👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Democratic resilience in Europe – and its limits
The article applies the concept of democratic resilience to recent political developments in Europe. In line with core definitions of the concept, we distinguish between ways in which European demo...
tandfonline.com
New Publication! How do “fear dictators” become “spin dictators” once societies go online?@ildardaminov.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social traces how the Lukashenka regime in #Belarus and its bureaucracy have retooled their info control in response to #digital uptake doi.org/10.1080/1351...
A fear dictator who is spinning? Conceptualizing authoritarian responses to digital uptake through the case study of information control in Belarus
Contemporary authoritarian regimes increasingly rely on digital technologies in their information control strategies, such as censorship, surveillance, and propaganda. However, the digital transfor...
doi.org
Just published ‼️ This has been incredible team work with great @giga-hamburg.de colleagues! How do chief executives personalize power? The article develops and operationalises a concept of personalization and applies it to four cases in different world regions. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Personnel management, institutional engineering, and coercion: mechanisms of the personalization of executive power
How do chief executives personalize power? In this paper we conceptualize the personalization of executive power based on observable processes initiated by the chief executive aiming to increase po...
tandfonline.com
Excited to share my new article “Who Supports the Coup?”, revealing that decolonization concerns, not economic deprivation, best explain popular support for Mali's military junta. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @democratization.bsky.social Draws on @afrobarometer.bsky.social data
Who supports the coup? Deprivation, decolonization and junta support in post-coup Mali
This study investigates support for Mali’s military government two years after a coup overthrew the democratic order. It evaluates two common explanations for the popular enthusiasm that accompanie...
tandfonline.com
Our article, “The Frenemy Within: Populism’s Dual Role in Democratization”, with @toygarsinanbaykan.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social is now available on @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social as a blog post blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2... @lse-ei.bsky.social
The frenemy within – populism’s dual role in democratisation
Is populism a threat to democracy or a force for democratisation? New research suggests populism can both revitalise politics and erode democratic institutions.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
New Article: ISRF Early Career Fellow Arash Beidollahkhani, "From predicting dissent to programming power; analyzing AI-driven authoritarian governance in the Middle East through TRIAD framework" in @democratization.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
From predicting dissent to programming power; analyzing AI-driven authoritarian governance in the Middle East through TRIAD framework
This paper examines the strategic adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by authoritarian leaning regimes in the Middle East, focusing on Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). B...
tandfonline.com
“Autocracies Win the Minds of the Democratic Public: How Japanese Citizens are Persuaded by Illiberal Narratives” by Tetsuro Kobayashi, @yuanzhouir.bsky.social @lungtaseki.bsky.social & Asako Miura in @democratization.bsky.social (2025) #AutumnReading
Autocracies win the minds of the democratic public: how Japanese citizens are persuaded by illiberal narratives propagated by authoritarian regimes
This study examines the persuasive effects of illiberal narratives on citizens in democratic countries in the context of increasing influence operations by authoritarian states, focusing on Japan a...
tandfonline.com
How do “fear dictators” become “spin dictators” once societies go online? My new open-access article in @democratization.bsky.social traces how the Lukashenka regime in #Belarus and its bureaucracy have retooled their information control in response to #digital uptake: doi.org/10.1080/1351...
A fear dictator who is spinning? Conceptualizing authoritarian responses to digital uptake through the case study of information control in Belarus
Contemporary authoritarian regimes increasingly rely on digital technologies in their information control strategies, such as censorship, surveillance, and propaganda. However, the digital transfor...
doi.org
“Democracy Promotion in Times of Autocratization: A Conceptual Note.” by Sonja Grimm, Brigitte Weiffen & @kmross.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social (2025) #WinterReading
Democracy promotion in times of autocratization: a conceptual note
Following the third wave of democratization, democracy and its proponents have recently experienced a shift towards autocratization. To date, however, little is known about the impact of this trend...
tandfonline.com
I’m very happy to share that the first paper of my PhD, «From the streets to the ballots: Protests, polls and Polarization in Hong Kong» has been published online in @democratization.bsky.social It is open access, and you can read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
From the streets to the ballots: protests, polls and polarization in Hong Kong
Social movement research indicates that protests can influence voting behaviour through several informational and psychological mechanisms. Yet, we know little about the individual variation in how...
tandfonline.com
“Diffusion of Digital Authoritarian Practices in China’s Neighbourhood: The Cases of Iran and Pakistan.” by Galib Bashirov, Shahram Akbarzadeh, @ihsanylmz.bsky.social and Zahid Shahab Ahmed in @democratization.bsky.social (2025) #AutumnReading
Diffusion of digital authoritarian practices in China’s neighbourhood: the cases of Iran and Pakistan
This article examines mechanisms for the diffusion of digital authoritarian practices, focusing on China and two of its regional partners in South and West Asia: Iran and Pakistan. We investigate t...
doi.org
"China’s Active Defence Against Democracy Promotion: A Conceptual Analysis" by Sungmin Cho in @democratization.bsky.social (2025) #AutumnReading
China’s active defence against democracy promotion: a conceptual analysis
This article examines the Xi Jinping regime’s strategic intent behind its activities that, in effect, facilitate the global autocratization trend. I argue that the Xi regime’s ideological policies ...
tandfonline.com
📄 🚨 New Research on Polarization, Fragmentation, and Democracy in @democratization.bsky.social Nils-Christian Bormann and I explore the impact of ideological polarization and fragmentation on the democratic systems of interwar Europe: lnkd.in/erjJr9qF #polarization #democracy #data #history (1/4)
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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We have page numbers 🥳 Independent #judiciaries around the world are under threat from authoritarian #populists - but the threat starts long before these actors enter office! More on the dangers of "populists before power" 👉👉👉 doi.org/10.1080/1351... #OpenAccess @democratization.bsky.social
Excited to share my latest co-authored article with @toygarsinanbaykan.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social “The Frenemy Within: Populism’s Dual Role in Democratization” We explore how populism can both revive and erode democracy. 🔗 tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @lse-ei.bsky.social
The frenemy within: populism’s dual role in democratization
Different approaches to democracy and populism lead to varied conclusions about their relationship. Some see populism as a threat to democracy, while others argue that it can contribute to democrat...
tandfonline.com
Mehr Informationen auch in unserem Aufsatz zu “Populists before power” in @democratization.bsky.social 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1351... und meinem Beitrag im @verfassungsblog.de 👉 verfassungsblog.de/delegitimier...
Populists before power: delegitimization strategies against independent judiciaries
Research on the dangers of authoritarian populism for liberal democracy has almost exclusively focused on “populists in power” and those cases where dramatic changes have occurred. However, there i...
doi.org
📈 Larry Diamond’s “Democratic regression in comparative perspective” just hit T&F’s top Altmetric scores last week! 📖 Free to access through August: doi.org/10.1080/1351... 📊 Score details: www.altmetric.com/details/9064...
Democratic regression in comparative perspective: scope, methods, and causes
Between 1974 and 2005, a majority of states became democratic for the first time in history. However, a global democratic recession began in 2006 and has persisted – and deepened – over the past 14...
doi.org
Concerned with conflicts over political liberties & the regime in federal states? Just out in @democratization.bsky.social - A new, regime-change driven „genotype of secession“. - How it mattered in the breakup of the Soviet Union & Yugoslavia. Is California next? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
🇹🇳Me complace compartir nuestro nuevo artículo con @mhlarramendi.bsky.social y Antonio Alfonso: “Voting with dissatisfaction: An analysis of the 2019 parliamentart election in Tunisia” t.co/Y0CXK79EHf en @democratization.bsky.social #Túnez @pablodeolavide.upo.es @humanidadesto.bsky.social
Now with page number! This article contends that women’s issues change as democracy deepens, and yet the relationship is not always linear but dynamic. We show it with 80 years of legislative debates in SK doi.org/10.1080/1351...
Democratic progress and women’s issue representation: evidence from the South Korean National Assembly, 1948–2022
How does democratic progress affect the evolution of women’s issues? Although previous studies showed the significance of democratic transition in mainstreaming women’s issues, little is known abou...
doi.org
How do authoritarian regimes wield tech? @daraconduit.bsky.social shows Iran’s digital authoritarianism isn’t just repression—it’s a state-building tool shaped by domestic political economy. Essential reading on authoritarian innovation. doi.org/10.1080/1351...
Civil society organizations in intelligence accountability: democratic ideals and practical limitations
This study addresses a gap in Intelligence Studies by conducting an empirical investigation into how various civil society actors perceive their role in promoting accountability within the intellig...
doi.org
@williamhatu.bsky.social examines predictors for support for military rule. Perceived executive violation of the law, corruption in the president’s office + president’s underperformance influence support for military rule with trust in military as underlying factor. doi.org/10.1080/1351...
Think contested leadership races turn voters away? Think again. Competitive primaries aren't just democratic—they can also be an electoral asset. Javier Astudillo & @tonirodon.bsky.social @upf.edu doi.org/10.1080/1351...
What is a #regime? The answer is not as straightforward as it might seem, but is crucial for understanding how regimes operate and transform. Identifying procedural, actor-centred, and sociological approaches to regimes. @catherineowen.bsky.social #CEDARhttps://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2483418
How vulnerable are democracies to authoritarian influence? T Kobayashi, @yuanzhouir.bsky.social et al. find that illiberal narratives from China & Russia shape public opinion more strongly than mainstream democratic narratives—even when both are presented together. doi.org/10.1080/1351...
