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- Grahn, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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Good seed makes a good crop? The relationship between civil society and post-independence democracy levels
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Civil Society. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1744-8689 .- 1744-8697. ; 17:3-4, s. 297-322
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The impact of civil society on democracy is contested. Some argue that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are important 'schools of democracy' and may foster democratic consolidation. Others emphasize that antidemocratic CSOs may undermine democracy. This debate is particularly relevant in the context of newly independent states. At that critical juncture, both democratic and authoritarian regime trajectories are possible. Societal preconditions - such as the state of civil society - can therefore be particularly relevant for the way forward. To what extent does the nature of CSOs prior to independence has an impact on the subsequent level of democracy? We argue that the existence of democratic CSOs prior to independence strengthens post-independence democracy whereas non-democratic CSOs have a detrimental effect. For the first time, this argument is empirically tested, using Varieties of Democracy (VDem) data on 91 cases of independence since 1905. The empirical results demonstrate that the presence of democratic CSOs prior to independence is positively correlated, whereas non-democratic CSOs are negatively correlated to democracy levels following independence.
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| 2. |
- Hellmeier, Sebastian, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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State of the world 2020: autocratization turns viral
- 2021
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Ingår i: Democratization. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1351-0347 .- 1743-890X. ; 28:6, s. 1053-1074
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyses the state of democracy in 2020. The world is still more democratic than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, but a trend of autocratization is ongoing and affecting 25 countries in 2020, home to 34% of the world's population. At the same time, the number of democratizing countries has dwindled by nearly half, reducing to 16 countries, home to a mere 4% of the global population. Freedom of expression, deliberation, rule of law and elections show the most substantial net declines in the last decade. A major change is that India, formerly the world's largest democracy, turned into an electoral autocracy. The V-Dem data suggests that direct effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on levels of liberal democracy were limited in 2020. Still, the longer-term consequences may be worse and must be monitored closely. Due to the pandemic and state restrictions on the freedom of assembly, mass mobilization declined to its lowest level in over a decade, yet the decline in pro-democracy protests in 2020 may well prove to be short-lived once the pandemic subdues.
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