Democracy and Crisis: Anti-Democratic Consequences

Abstract

Rising dissatisfaction with democratic actors and doubts about the stability of democratic support have unveiled clear limitations of the established approaches to studying individuals’ attitudes towards democracy and understanding the implications for the stability of the democratic system. Much of the existing scholarship is centered on political scientists’ conceptualizations of democracy, but it remains unclear to what extent citizens conform to such expectations or share the same understanding of democracy. In short, do people follow the conceptual templates of political science when hearing about democracy and democratic institutions? Illiberal challenges to democracy from above and below often rely on claims and narratives seemingly based on democratic ideas and principles such as majoritaranism, people-centeredness, equality, and inclusiveness toward even anti-democratic viewpoints. Especially in times of duress, such as during the current pandemic, both citizens and radical political actors invoke liberal democratic principles in their public protest against the measures taken by democratic governments. In other cases, such as in US democracy, political actors have justified anti-democratic behavior by claiming to defend democracy from the greater harm supposedly emanating from the political opponent. Thus, threats to democracy have increasingly relied on certain notions citizens and political actors harbor about democracy that has resulted in anti-democratic political behavior and also institutional consequences, especially if we look at political changes in Central European political systems. While there is recent work on the interaction between radicalism and democratic attitudes, the area remains under-researched and undertheorized. This panel will contribute to a more comprehensive and systematic explorations of how individuals with non-mainstream ideologies relate to democratic principles and what consequences this has for the quality and stability of the democratic system. This panel will also help in developing a better understanding how these radical challenges are incorporated into the democratic discourse and affects the operation of democratic institutions.

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