<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This, mainly conceptual, paper concerns the democratic backsliding process, focusing on specific and understudied actors whose actions (or non-actions) unintentionally contribute to the undertakings of autocrats or “would-be autocrats,” instead of concentrating on often analysed incumbents. The authors propose in this regard a concept of “unintentional backsliders,” including its definition, typology, and model of mapping actors who, due to recklessness or negligence, unintentionally support democratic backsliding. The spectrum of such backsliders has been additionally outlined in the case of Poland, the fastest de-democratising country recently — in order to demonstrate that the proposed conceptual framework can be translated into a political reality and has a potential to be applied in empirical studies.</p>
</abstract>

This, mainly conceptual, paper concerns the democratic backsliding process, focusing on specific and understudied actors whose actions (or non-actions) unintentionally contribute to the undertakings of autocrats or “would-be autocrats,” instead of concentrating on often analysed incumbents. The authors propose in this regard a concept of “unintentional backsliders,” including its definition, typology, and model of mapping actors who, due to recklessness or negligence, unintentionally support democratic backsliding. The spectrum of such backsliders has been additionally outlined in the case of Poland, the fastest de-democratising country recently — in order to demonstrate that the proposed conceptual framework can be translated into a political reality and has a potential to be applied in empirical studies.

Unintentional Democratic Backsliders. “Evil Always Wins Through the Strength of its Splendid Dupes”

Polish Political Science Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This, mainly conceptual, paper concerns the democratic backsliding process, focusing on specific and understudied actors whose actions (or non-actions)...

Unintentional Democratic Backsliders. “Evil Always Wins Through the Strength of its Splendid Dupes”

Publié en ligne: 20 juin 2023

Pages: 24 - 45

Reçu: 08 févr. 2023

Accepté: 18 avr. 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2023-0003

Mots clés
actor-based approach, conceptual paper, democratic backsliding, five-item model, Poland, unintentional backslider

© 2023 Łukasz Zamęcki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unintentional Democratic Backsliders. “Evil Always Wins Through the Strength of its Splendid Dupes”

Publié en ligne: 20 juin 2023

Pages: 24 - 45

Reçu: 08 févr. 2023

Accepté: 18 avr. 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2023-0003

Mots clésactor-based approach, conceptual paper, democratic backsliding, five-item model, Poland, unintentional backslider

© 2023 Łukasz Zamęcki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
actor-based approach, conceptual paper, democratic backsliding, five-item model, Poland, unintentional backslider