A Legitimacy Crisis: How to Face Democratic Backsliding and Mistrust in Contemporary Politics

Abstract

This panel will investigate the so-called phenomenon of democratic backsliding, that is, a spreading perception that democratic ideals and practices are losing ground in the face of contemporary authoritarian challenges and populist waves, both on the right and on the left. These phenomena are fostered by an erosion of trust, both in the horizontal sense, between fellow citizens as members of the same polity, and in the vertical sense, in the relationship between citizens and political institutions. Further, citizens appear to be more and more wary of epistemic authorities, challenging public processes for establishing criteria of expertise. These dynamics fuel an ongoing crisis of representation, for citizens feel that democratic governments, and extensively democratic ideals as well, are not responsive to their needs and preferences. This panel will host presentations taking stock of different dimensions of democratic backsliding, from diagnostic analyses to concrete proposals for mending the breach of trust and for addressing the breakdown of democratic representation.

Title	Details
Watchdog Mini-Publics: Checking Power in Backsliding Democracies	View Paper Details
Populist Trust as Democratic Mistrust	View Paper Details
Representative Democracy and Civil Disobedience	View Paper Details
Does it Still Make Sense to Invoke Trust Between Democratic Citizens?	View Paper Details
Strategic Demobilisation as Democratic Defence	View Paper Details