Become a Patron! Preorder Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way's Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism here. Revolutions and Counterrevolutionary Reaction Successful revolutions depend on counterrevolutionary reaction. Without counterrevolutionary response a revolutionary regime fails to establish the foundations for a durable long lasting regime. It's absolutely counterintuitive, but makes perfect sense for those who... Continue Reading →
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way on the Durable Authoritarianism of Revolutionary Regimes
Lucan Way is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and Co-Director of the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine. Steven Levitsky is the David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, professor of government, and director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. They are... Continue Reading →
Why Social Revolutions Produce Durable Authoritarianism
Become a Patron! Preorder Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way's Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism here. Revolutions and Durable Authoritarianism Revolutionary governments capture the imagination. Their origins have mythic qualities. Those involved become heroes and villains of epic proportions. Moreover, the regimes they establish frequently survive for generations. Indeed, most of the revolutionary... Continue Reading →
When the Law Legitimizes Democratic Backsliding
Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. When the Law Legitimizes Democratic Backsliding Typically we think democratic breakdowns involve coups or civil wars. However, democratic erosion "happens over time. It takes years for an executive with hegemonic aspirations to succeed in eroding democracy." Moreover, democratic backsliding frequently happens... Continue Reading →
When Opposition Strategies Become Undemocratic
Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. When Opposition Strategies Become Undemocratic On the most recent podcast, Laura Gamboa emphasizes the role of democratic oppositions to pursue meaningful strategies to fight against democratic backsliding. Implicit in her analysis is the fear of overly aggressive strategies that become... Continue Reading →
Resisting Indifference to Democracy
Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. Resisting Indifference to Democracy The consolidation of democracy in so many countries has brought about an indifference to democracy. Most citizens take for granted democracy exists so long as elections remain relatively free and fair. They do not worry about... Continue Reading →
Laura Gamboa on Opposition Strategies to Resist Democratic Erosion
Laura Gamboa is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah. She is the author of the forthcoming book Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy. Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's new book Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. There's always another set of elections.... Continue Reading →
How to Resist Democratic Backsliding
Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. How to Resist Democratic Backsliding Laura Gamboa makes bold claims in a new book on democratic backsliding. The past few years have seen an explosion in the number of books on democratic decline and breakdown. Scholars have already made... Continue Reading →
Democracy Books on Audible
Become a Patron! Democracy Books on Audible New students interested in the study of democracy may find themselves overwhelmed. Writers publish interesting new titles every week. So, it's difficult just to keep up and even harder to build a foundation of the classics at the same time. I recommend the use of audiobooks as a... Continue Reading →
Electoral Strategies Against Aspiring Autocrats
Become a Patron! Order your copy of Democracy in Hard Places today! Strategies Against Aspiring Autocrats The Hungarian opposition pursued a complicated electoral strategy against Viktor Orbán and Fidesz in the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections. They tried to unify the opposition into a single political party to overtake Fidesz in single member district competitions. The problem... Continue Reading →