The EU’s Enfants Terribles
Democratic Backsliding in Central Europe since 2010
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7952228 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E Wight Bakke (0000-0001-5538-576X), Elisabeth Bakke, Nick Sitter (0000-0003-3068-2105) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 22-37 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1537592720001292 |
| OpenAlex | W3045207014 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 62 |
| References cited | 62 |
In the academic literature, Hungary and Poland are often cited as paradigmatic cases of democratic backsliding. However, as the backsliding narrative gained traction, the term has been applied to the rest of the post-communist region, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia. We suggest that this diagnosis is in part based on conceptual stretching, and set out to rescue the concept as an analytical tool. We then assess the extent of backsliding in the four Visegrád countries, explaining backsliding (and the relative lack of it) in terms of motive, opportunity, and the strength or weakness of opposing or constraining forces. We conclude that the situation is not as desperate as some commentators would have it: democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland was contingent on a few exceptional factors, and EU leaders therefore need not be paralysed by the fear of contagion when they contemplate forceful action against backsliding member states
Action (physics · Czech · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Narrative · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · European Politics and Security · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Philosophy
Shades of Negativity in European Parliament Debates
Post-communist Chief Justices in Slovakia
The resilience of the regulatory state in an age of polycrisis
Uses of Law in EU Foreign Policy
Court-packing and judicial manipulation
How backsliding government parties defend democratic backsliding in the European Parliament
Recentralisation shift in Poland between 2015 and 2023
Faces of Europe
Populist radical-right governments in Central-Eastern Europe and education policy-making
Is there a decline of democracy in the EU between 2004 and 2016? The relevance of data selection
Quality of Democracy Makes a Difference, but Not for Everyone
Marketplace of indicators
Politics of Boundary Consolidation
Alternatives to Liberal Democracies and Their Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe
Despotisme démocratique
The winner takes all the trust
Political support and democratic backsliding trends. The strange case of Central and Eastern European countries
Does the radical left stand up for liberal democracy in the European parliament? Evidence from 53 debates on the rule of law crisis
A climate of optimism? EU policy-making, political science and the democratization of Central and Eastern Europe (2000–2015)
International sanctions and domestic backlash. Exploring public support towards the EU's rule of law enforcement
The 2020 Czech regional elections
The rise of populism as a factor in Mezey’s explanation of legislative vulnerability
Are the upper chambers a source of democratic resilience? Evidence from elite perceptions in the Czech Republic
Multi-purpose populist policymaking in practice
Government justification of police actions against protesters
Does ideology trump geography? Political divides and MEP responses to democratic backsliding
Eroded decisiveness in public administration? The political use of law and legal knowledge amid democratic backsliding in Poland
A post-individualistic turn? Intergenerational change in self-orientation in Poland and Germany
Are non-democracies taking over? Autocratization and international organization membership
Family convergence in a polarised environment
Is there an East–West divide on democracy in the European Union? Evidence from democratic backsliding and attitudes towards rule of law interventions
Democratic backsliding and support for public good provision in the European Union
Post-truth post-communism?” – Information-oriented lobbying in the context of democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
Polarization, fragmentation, and democratic deconsolidation in interwar Europe
Populism, Democracy, and Party System Change in Europe
Central and Eastern European (CEE) Experience with Democratic Consolidation, Decay and Defense
Defending democracy
Un-solvable crises? Differential implementation and transboundary crisis management in the EU
Baltic democracies beyond the EU accession
Democratic backsliding and the constitutional blitz
From agents of the people to agents of authority? How illiberal populism impacts interactions between regulatory agencies and external stakeholders
Forging, Bending, and Breaking
Ideological backtracking in ethnic parties
The rhetoric of inaction
Democratic Erosion? One Dominant Party and Ineffective Opposition
Debating EU Actions Against Democratic Backsliding in Hungary
Going in Different Directions? The 2023 Elections in Poland and Slovakia and Their Aftermath
To Reinforce or Replace
More Power, Less Support
The would-be autocrats’ toolkit
Perceived legitimacy as a third dimension of bicameralism
Czech political parties and the war in Ukraine
Who’s to blame for democratic backsliding
The return of silent elections
Troublemakers and game changers
Deliberation under pressure
The Demand Side of Democratic Backsliding
Democratic backsliding against a rising wave of support for democracy? Explaining trends in attitudes toward democracy in Poland (1995-2021)
Courts against backsliding
Court‐hoarding
Cities against democratic backsliding
Antidote to Backsliding
Europe Undivided
Post-Communist Mafia State
Conditionality & Coercion
Democratic Decay
Illiberalism Within
Should the EU Protect Democracy and the Rule of Law inside Member States?
The third wave
Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice
Challenge or Crisis of Democracy
The Hollowing and Backsliding of Democracy in East Central Europe
Democracy and Crisis
Post-Communist Mafia State
How Democracies Die
Towards a Conceptual Framework for Struggles over Democracy in Backsliding States
Why Choice Matters
The Illiberal Turn or Swerve in Central Europe
The fragility of an independent judiciary
Demythologising the Czech opposition agreement
The State as a Firm
The gendered modus operandi of the illiberal transformation in Hungary and Poland
Defying the Commission
Academic Freedom in Europe
From Competition to Polarization in Central Europe
Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? From Democracy Fatigue to Populist Backlash
Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? The Strange Death of the Liberal Consensus
What’s Wrong with East-Central Europe
What’s Wrong with East-Central Europe
Foreground Liberalism, Background Nationalism
Europe’s Other Democratic Deficit
Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe – looking beyond Hungary and Poland
Anchoring Democracy from Above? The E uropean U nion and Democratic Backsliding in H ungary and R omania after Accession
The Fourth Wave of DemocracyandDictatorship
Institutional Change and Persistence
How Populists Rule
The use and abuse of participatory governance by populist governments
Democratic Backsliding and Academic Freedom in Hungary
Political safeguards against democratic backsliding in the EU
India’s Unlikely Democracy
On Democratic Backsliding
The Assault on Postcommunist Courts
How Much Democratic Backsliding
Malaysia
Elections Without Democracy
The Myth of Democratic Recession
Is the Third Wave Over
Slovakia's Conflicting Camps
The Signs of Deconsolidation
Czech Democracy Under Pressure
Extreme Bounds of Democracy
Understanding the illiberal turn
State advertising as an instrument of transformation of the media market in Hungary
A third wave of autocratization is here
Populists in government? Hungary's “system of national cooperation
Unwelcome Change
An anti-establishment backlash that shook up the party system? The October 2015 Polish parliamentary election
Are dictatorships returning? Revisiting the ‘democratic rollback’ hypothesis
The 2012 parliamentary elections in Slovakia
| Unique citing works | 62 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 10,33 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 61 |