Our curated library is packed full of knowledge, know-how and best practices in the fields of democracy and culture.
Read the latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other critical world events in our library of democratic content. Gathered from trusted international sources, the curated library brings you a rich resource of articles, opinion pieces and more on democracy and culture to keep you updated.
Take a look at curated library below and search by keyword (i.e. Ukraine or authoritarianism) or format (i.e. article or report) and find a tailored list of resources on the topics you're most interested in.
The Allure of the Illiberal
In countries around the world, voters have recently rallied around leaders who embrace an authoritarian, nationalistic and separatist worldview and curtail civil freedoms, independent institutions and an open media. What is the allure?
Why Do Authoritarian Leaders Appeal Today?
This piece examines the contemporary influence of authoritarian leaders and demagogues and how "strongmen" take power at times of anxiety and vulnerability.
What Comes Next? Lessons For The Recovery of Liberal Democracy
"In declining order of direct comparison" the authors "looked at cases of democratic decline and subsequent renewal" in several areas and "also looked at the similarities and differences between these states and countries that faced executive degradation and have not yet recovered, particularly Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Venezuela" (Kleinfeld and Solimini, 2018).
Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe – looking beyond Hungary and Poland
"This essay introduces contributions to a special issue of East European Politics on “Rethinking democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe”, which seeks to expand the study of democratic regression in CEE beyond the paradigmatic cases of Hungary and Poland" (Cianettia, Dawsonb, and Hanley, 2018).
Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans
"The countries of the Western Balkans during the 1990s were dominated by competitive authoritarian regimes that combined multi-party elections with nationalist rhetoric and the privatisation of the state to affiliated business interests… This article will argue that the current competitive authoritarian systems … are structurally different from those of the 1990s" (Bieber 2018).
The disinformation order: Disruptive communication and the decline of democratic institutions
This article explores disinformation and democracy, examining how “disinformation can be traced to growing legitimacy problems in many democracies” and how “declining citizen confidence in institutions undermines the credibility of official information in the news and opens publics to alternative information sources” (W Lance Bennett, Steven Livingston, 2018).
This Is How Democracies Die
Levitsky and Ziblatt explore contemporary democratic backsliding and how it differs from the democratic fracturing of the past and takes place at the ballot box, through the co-optation of the media, through declining judicial independence, and increasing threats to the citizenry.
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