I Trends on Democratic Erosion: The Role Of Agency And Sequencing

Abstract

Democratic erosion has become the main path of movement away from democracy since 1990. Distinct from abrupt breakdowns like coups d’état, executive coups, military defeat, or foreign invasions, the erosion of democratic systems occurs as a gradual and incremental process, driven by legally elected incumbents and by legal means (or by upholding the façade of legal means). These incumbents are change agents who deliberately and actively endeavor to dismantle the democratic rules of the game. This text addresses some still unsolved but highly relevant conceptual issues in the ongoing research of democratic erosion: the delineation between democratic erosion and loss of democratic quality and the delineation between democratic erosion and autocratization. Moreover, the article focuses on two main features of democratic erosion — agency and incrementality — and suggests a model for the sequencing of democratic erosion.