Theorizing Democratic Breakdown: A Typological Analysis

Although numerous studies acknowledge that democratic decline is a global phenomenon, the existing literature lacks comprehensive theoretical and empirical frameworks to account for its diverse manifestations. Addressing this gap, the present study poses the following questions: What are the fundamental causes and mechanisms underlying democratic breakdown? What distinct types of democratic breakdown can be identified? And why are certain democracies more vulnerable to specific types of breakdown than others? To explore these questions, the study adopts a typological theorizing approach and develops an explanatory typology of democratic breakdown based on two dichotomous dimensions: the pace and the actors of breakdown. This framework yields four types: autogolpe, backsliding, takeover, and tutelary subversion. To explain the conditions under which each type is more likely to occur, the study highlights the significance of power-related factors, particularly the resources controlled by key political actors and the broader balance of power within the polity. The study illustrates each type with multiple empirical cases from a range of national contexts. The proposed multidimensional typology offers a more nuanced understanding of democratic breakdown and contributes to a broader comparative analysis of democratic decline in the contemporary world.