Democratic decoupling

Bibliographic Data

ID6253971
AuthorsIza Ding (0000-0003-4379-1853, University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author), Dan Slater (0000-0002-1079-7952, University of Michigan)
Year2021
Volume28
Issue1
Pages63-80
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510347.2020.1842361
OpenAlexW4253974688
LanguageEN
Citations received40
References cited48

Democratic backsliding does not necessarily see all democratic institutions erode in parallel fashion. This article analyses contemporary democratic backsliding through the lens of institutional change, as a process of "democratic decoupling," in which a systematic gap opens up between the constitutive features of liberal democracy. Specifically, we focus on the worldwide decoupling between electoral quality and rights protections over the past decade. Using global data from the V-Dem project, we establish that elections are improving and rights are retracting in the same time period, and in many of the same cases. We offer several illustrative examples from Asia of illiberal juggernauts who have ridden the waves of free and fair elections to do great damage to rights protections, focusing primarily on Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP in the world's largest democracy, India

Decoupling (probability · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Law and economics · Liberal democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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