Concept and changing forms
Bermeo (2016) defined backsliding as the state-led debilitation or elimination of the institutions that sustain democracy. She found that blatant forms such as coups and election-day fraud have declined, while gradual forms such as promissory coups, executive aggrandizement and long-term pre-election manipulation have grown. Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018) described how elected leaders erode democratic norms such as mutual toleration and forbearance.
Causes and mechanisms
Waldner and Lust (2018) grouped explanations of backsliding into leaders' choices, political culture, institutional design, economic performance, social structure and international factors. Svolik (2019) argued that in highly polarized societies voters put their side's victory ahead of democratic principles and fail to punish leaders who act undemocratically. Graham and Svolik (2020) supported this with survey experiments in the United States.
Global trends
Analyzing Varieties of Democracy data, Lührmann and Lindberg (2019) reported that the world has entered a third wave of autocratization, mostly gradual and under legal cover. Haggard and Kaufman (2021) compared cases and found that backsliding occurs when polarization, failed legislative checks and incremental executive aggrandizement combine. Deep backsliding can lead to competitive authoritarianism.
FAQ
- What is democratic backsliding in simple terms?
- Democracy slowly breaks down as elected leaders gradually weaken the courts, the press and other checks on their power.
- Why don't voters stop it?
- In highly polarized societies people value their side winning over democratic principles, so they do not punish their own leaders for undemocratic behavior.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Bermeo, N. (2016). On democratic backsliding. Journal of Democracy, 27(1), 5–19. Changing forms of backsliding.
- Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. Crown. Elected leaders eroding norms.
- Waldner, D., & Lust, E. (2018). Unwelcome change: Coming to terms with democratic backsliding. Annual Review of Political Science, 21, 93–113. Review of explanations.
- Lührmann, A., & Lindberg, S. I. (2019). A third wave of autocratization is here: What is new about it? Democratization, 26(7), 1095–1113. The third wave of autocratization.
- Svolik, M. W. (2019). Polarization versus democracy. Journal of Democracy, 30(3), 20–32. Polarization weakens democratic checks.
- Graham, M. H., & Svolik, M. W. (2020). Democracy in America? Partisanship, polarization, and the robustness of support for democracy in the United States. American Political Science Review, 114(2), 392–409. Experimental evidence on partisanship.
- Haggard, S., & Kaufman, R. (2021). Backsliding: Democratic regress in the contemporary world. Cambridge University Press. Comparative cases.