Description
| Product ID: | 9781108958400 |
| Product Form: | Paperback / softback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Series: | Elements in Political Economy |
| Title: | Backsliding |
| Subtitle: | Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World |
| Authors: | Author: Robert Kaufman, Stephan Haggard |
| Page Count: | 75 |
| Subjects: | Constitution: government and the state, Constitution: government & the state, Elections and referenda / suffrage, Political leaders and leadership, Political structures: democracy, Political economy, Elections & referenda, Political leaders & leadership, Political structures: democracy, Political economy |
| Description: | Select Guide Rating Backsliding shows how elected rulers can weaken checks on executive power, curtail political rights, and undermine electoral systems. Based on sixteen detailed case studies, Backsliding demonstrates the pernicious effects of polarization, complicit legislatures and the incremental nature of derogations from democratic rule. Assaults on democracy are increasingly coming from the actions of duly elected governments, rather than coups. Backsliding examines the processes through which elected rulers weaken checks on executive power, curtail political and civil liberties, and undermine the integrity of the electoral system. Drawing on detailed case studies, including the United States and countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa, the book focuses on three, inter-related causal mechanisms: the pernicious effects of polarization; realignments of party systems that enable elected autocrats to gain legislative power; and the incremental nature of derogations, which divides oppositions and keeps them off balance. A concluding chapter looks at the international context of backsliding and the role of new technologies in these processes. An online appendix provides detailed accounts of backsliding in 16 countries, which can be found at www.cambridge.org/backsliding. |
| Imprint Name: | Cambridge University Press |
| Publisher Name: | Cambridge University Press |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2021-02-11 |
