Is Democracy in Danger? The Politics of Democratic Backsliding

Dozent/in	Álvaro Canalejo-Molero, PhD
Veranstaltungsart	Hauptseminar
Code	FS261590
Semester	Frühjahrssemester 2026
Durchführender Fachbereich	Politikwissenschaft
Studienstufe	Bachelor Master
Termin/e	Mi, 25.02.2026, 12:00 - 14:00 Uhr, Intern, HS8 Fr, 27.02.2026, 09:00 - 15:30 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220 Fr, 13.03.2026, 09:00 - 17:30 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220 Fr, 17.04.2026, 09:00 - 17:30 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220 Fr, 15.05.2026, 09:00 - 15:30 Uhr, 4.B02
Weitere Daten	Einführungsveranstaltung findet statt am Mittwoch, 25.02.2026 von 12:00 - 14:00 Uhr im HS 8
Umfang	2 Semesterwochenstunden
Turnus	Blockveranstaltung
Inhalt	Over the past decades, growing debates and concerns have emerged about whether we are witnessing a period of democratic decline. These discussions have intensified in recent years, with renewed geopolitical tensions and events such as Donald Trump’s re-election and the rise of the European far right reigniting worries about the stability and resilience of democratic systems. In this context, this course explores the politics of democratic backsliding. It begins by reviewing key theories of democracy and democratic backsliding—understood as processes of state-led democratic erosion—before turning to the potential mechanisms behind these developments. The course first examines backsliding from the perspective of political elites, and then from that of citizens. Finally, it assesses recent trends and debates and concludes with a discussion on the current state of democracy. The aim of the course is to equip students with the conceptual tools to assess democracy and its potential erosion in today’s context, and to engage critically with the latest empirical research at the intersection of democratic theory and political behavior.
Schlagworte	Gender/Diversity
Lernziele	1. [Knowledge] Understand key theories of democracy and democratic erosion, and assess major threats, trends, and forms of resilience. 2. [Competence — Critical reading] Critically evaluate quantitative research on democracy and political behavior, assessing theory and empirical strategy. 3. [Competence — Writing] Write critical response papers on scientific articles related to democracy and political behavior. 4. [Competence — Communication] Debate with their colleagues and communicate complex concepts effectively to a broad audience.
Voraussetzungen	Basic knowledge of statistics (descriptive statistics, regression)
Sprache	Englisch
Anmeldung	***Wichtig*** Um Credits zu erwerben ist die Anmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung über das UniPortal zwingend erforderlich. Die Anmeldung ist ab zwei Wochen vor bis zwei Wochen nach Beginn des Semesters möglich. An- und Abmeldungen sind nach diesem Zeitraum nicht mehr möglich. Die genauen Anmeldedaten finden Sie hier: http://www.unilu.ch/ksf/semesterdaten
Leistungsnachweis	Active participation (Attendance at the seminar, weekly short written comments, active participation in the sessions). 4 Credits
Abschlussform / Credits	Active participation, Presentation, Research design paper/ 4 Credits / 4 Credits
Hörer-/innen	Nach Vereinbarung
Kontakt	alvaro.canalejo@unilu.ch
Material	Individual laptop
Literatur	Literature: The complete reading list will be published in OLAT in February, before the start of the course. Students can expect two mandatory readings (two articles or book chapters) per session, except for the first and final sessions (i.e., 12 sessions x 2 readings = 24 readings). A preliminary list (subject to changes) includes the following items: - Dahl, Robert. (1972). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, chapter 1. - Przeworski, Adam. (1991). Democracy and the Market, chapter 1. - Bermeo, Nancy. (2016). “On Democratic Backsliding.” Journal of Democracy 27(1): pp. 5-19. - Waldner, David, and Ellen Lust. (2018). “Unwelcome change: Coming to terms with democratic backsliding.” Annual Review of Political Science 21: 93-113. - Varol, Ozan. 2015. “Stealth Authoritarianism.” Iowa Law Review 100(4): 1673-1742. Parts I, II and III. - Levitsky, Steven and Daniel Ziblatt. 2018. How Democracies Die. New York: Crown. Chapter 4. - Bentele, Keith G., and Erin E. O’Brien. 2013. "Jim Crow 2.0? Why States Consider and Adopt Restrictive Voter Access Policies." Perspectives on Politics 11 (4): 1088-1116. - Grossman, Guy, Yotam Margalit, and Tamar Mitts. (2022). “How the ultrarich use media ownership as a political investment.” The Journal of Politics 84(4): 1913-1931. - Valentim, V. (2024). The normalization of the radical right: A norms theory of political supply and demand. Oxford University Press. Chapter 1 - Valentim, V., Dinas, E., & Ziblatt, D. (2025). How mainstream politicians Erode norms. British Journal of Political Science, 55, e105. - Mudde, Cas, and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser. 2017. Populism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1. - Kendall-Taylor, Andrea and Erica Frantz. (2016). “How Democracies Fall Apart: Why Populism is a Pathway to Autocracy.” Foreign Affairs. - Valgarðsson, V., Jennings, W., Stoker, G., Bunting, H., Devine, D., McKay, L., & Klassen, A. (2025). A crisis of political trust? Global trends in institutional trust from 1958 to 2019. British Journal of Political Science, 55, e15. - Claassen, C., Ackermann, K., Bertsou, E., Borba, L., Carlin, R. E., Cavari, A., ... & Zechmeister, E. J. (2025). Conceptualizing and measuring support for democracy: A new approach. Comparative Political Studies, 58(6), 1171-1198. - Cramer, Katherine J. (20016). The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scot Walker, chapter 1. - Berman, Sheri. 2021. "The Causes of Populism in the West." Annual Review of Political Science 24 (1), 71-88. - 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. - Simonovits, G., McCoy, J., & Littvay, L. (2022). Democratic hypocrisy and out-group threat: Explaining citizen support for democratic erosion. The Journal of Politics, 84(3), 1806-1811. - Lecheler, Sophie, and Jana L. Egelhofer. 2022. “Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News: Understanding the Supply Side.” In Knowledge Resistance in High-Choice Information Environments, edited by Jesper Strömbäck et al. London: Routledge. 69–87 - Tucker, Joshua A., et al. 2018. "Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature." - Little, Andrew T. and AnneMeng. (2024) “Measuring Democratic Backsliding.” PS: Political Science & Politics. - Nord, Marina, et al. (2024). Democracy Report 2024: Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot. Gothenburg: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. - Graham, Benjamin A., Michael K. Miller, and Kaare W. Strøm. 2017. "Safeguarding Democracy: Powersharing and Democratic Survival." American Political Science Review 111 (4), 686-704. - Chenoweth, Erica, and Maria J. Stephan. 2012. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press. Chapter 1.