Elite polarization and democratic backsliding in Tunisia: tracing agency-driven mechanisms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent research has identified a strong correlation between polarization and democratic backsliding. The creation of antithetical groups in society is a necessary element in this type of autocratization process. Nevertheless, the agency-driven mechanisms through which elite polarization becomes harmful for democracy have been less explored in the literature. By resorting to process tracing methodology, the article analyses how elite polarization contributed to derailing the democratization process in Tunisia. The article identifies three necessary mechanisms through which elite polarization became a risk for democracy: politicization reinforcing pre-existing party cleavages; exclusion politics based on ontological contestation (“either us or them”); and the systematic delegitimization of democratic institutions and processes. In Tunisia, Parti Destourien Libre’s (PDL) political campaign followed these steps creating the context in which President Saied could start a democratic backsliding process.