Resisting democratic backsliding

Democratic backsliding follows recognisable patterns – as does democratic resistance.

In our latest Brussels Democracy Paper, political scientist Rachel Beatty Riedl, Cornell University, draws on a dataset covering thousands of attacks on democracy across 28 countries since 2000 to identify patterns of democratic erosion and the most effective ways to resist it.

The author identifies three key findings:

1. Attacks escalate over time. They often begin with the media, civil society and public freedoms, before targeting institutions like courts, electoral systems or legislatures. While less frequent, these institutional attacks tend to be far more severe.
2. Democratic competition matters. When political competition remains intact in a country, courts, bureaucracies and legislatures are most effective at resisting democratic erosion. Once governments command overwhelming majorities, institutional resistance weakens.
3. Institutional accountability is key. Civil society plays a central role in encouraging and pressuring courts, legislatures and public institutions to fulfil their democratic role.