Authoritarians are evolving — becoming more unconstrained and repressive at home, and more destructive on the global stage. Just as the West incentivized democratization after the Cold War, today authoritarian regimes are wielding economic and political might to lure countries into their illiberal orbit.
In the new issue of the Journal of Democracy, Grzegorz Ekiert and Noah Dasanaike explain why dictators are returning in full force, more aggressive than ever — and what democracies can do to stop them.
The following essays, free for a limited time, unpack the authoritarians’ toolkit, revealing their strategies for taking power and upending the liberal world order.
The Return of Dictatorship
Alongside democratic backsliding is another, more pernicious phenomenon: dictatorial drift, where “soft” authoritarian regimes are opting to become highly repressive dictatorships. The West must develop new strategies to defend democracy across the globe.
Grzegorz Ekiert and Noah DasanaikeThe New Competitive Authoritarianism
In recent years competitive authoritarianism has emerged in some countries with relatively strong democratic traditions and institutions.
Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. WayHow Authoritarians Inflate Their Image
Authoritarian propaganda and manipulation are leading democratic publics to see foreign autocracies as more powerful than they actually are.
Péter KrekóHow Authoritarians Use International Law
Through greater savvy engagement with international law, authoritarians are seeking not only to shield themselves from criticism, but to reshape global norms in their favor.
Tom GinsburgHow Authoritarians Win When They Lose
Turkey’s ruling party has developed a new tool: When its local candidates lose, it dismisses them and appoints its own choice under a guise that maintains the veneer of democracy. It is an autocratic innovation that may soon spread.
Sultan Tepe and Ayça AlemdaroğluHow Autocrats Undermine Media Freedom
Information is being weaponized against democracy. Democratic societies need new ways to keep media free, accurate, and authentic.
Edward LucasThe Authoritarian Assault on Knowledge
Universities, publishers, and other knowledge-sector institutions face increasingly sophisticated authoritarian efforts to quash critics and subvert independent inquiry.
Glenn TiffertAuthoritarianism Goes Global (II): Civil Society Under Assault
Once widely celebrated, civil society today is regarded as a threat by many governments, leading them to restrict its funding and activities.
Douglas RutzenAuthoritarianism Goes Global: Countering Democratic Norms
Favored by global conditions that lean their way, authoritarians have been busy over the last decade coming up with new and inventive ways to thwart the global advance of democracy and human rights.
Alexander Cooley
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Image Credit: Presidential Executive Office of Russia