How Oppositions Fight Back

Bibliographic Data

ID6288437
AuthorsLaura Gamboa (0000-0002-4873-1764, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume34
Issue3
Pages90-104
Publication date2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of democracy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jod.2023.a900435
OpenAlexW4382044777
LanguageEN
Citations received13

Around the globe, democratically elected leaders are eroding democracy by legal means, a strategy that often averts domestic and international backlash. To counter this erosion, oppositions may deploy radical, extra-institutional opposition strategies which risk backfiring and strengthening autocracy. Safer options are moderate, institutional strategies that maintain opposition legitimacy and work within democratic frameworks, an approach exemplified by the Colombian opposition during President Álvaro Uribe's tenure. However, the success of moderate strategies hinges on strong domestic and international support for democracy. Global apathy towards democracy can combine with an autocrat's use of a democratic façade to produce rapid democratic backsliding, as in the case of El Salvador's transition to competitive authoritarianism under President Nayib Bukele

Authoritarianism · Autocracy · Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Economic system · Economics · Legitimacy · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Relations in Latin America · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Society in Latin America

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