After a long period of democratic expansion in much of the developing world, in recent years political observers have increasingly started to worry about democratic backsliding. While this trend started over a decade ago in places like Russia or Turkey, it has recently spread to several new EU members (especially Hungary and Poland). After the surprising success of populist candidates and politicians in recent elections in the US and Western Europe, these concerns now affect even established democracies. How much backsliding has actually happened and how worried should we be about the survival of democracy?

To answer these questions we will first review different arguments about how to conceptualize and measure democratic backsliding/erosion. Drawing on social science debates about the drivers of democracy/authoritarianism, we will then try to assess several different explanations of backsliding by analyzing statistical data (including public opinion surveys) and comparative case evidence. While we will draw on evidence from all regions of the world, particular emphasis will be on the post-communist countries of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union.