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ABSTRACT
Contemporary democratic backsliding typically unfolds gradually, as elected incumbents slowly and relentlessly subvert democratic institutions without openly questioning the principles of democracy. This suggests that more attention should be devoted to studying the new practices through which authoritarian actors undermine democratic institutions and mobilize consensus for their agendas. In focusing on authoritarian practice, this Thematic Collection emphasizes the dynamism, the fluidity and the transformative potential of various sophisticated tactics employed by authoritarians to stifle opposing voices, demobilize dissent and erode the foundations of representative democracy. We name such practices “authoritarian innovations”, and we study them in the context of Southeast Asia, a region that has provided several examples of democratic erosions in recent years. Contributions in this thematic section offer an overview of trends of regime change in the region, as well as studies of authoritarian innovations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. These cases indicate the urgency of focusing on various actors who may collude with authoritarians in the state to assail spaces of democratic contestation and participation, and on the various context-specific practices that they skillfully implement.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University, for funding a workshop that helped develop this project.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Glasius, “What Authoritarianism is … and is Not,” 518.
2 He and Wagenaar, “Authoritarian Deliberation Revisited.”
3 Svolik, The Politics of Authoritarian Rule, 13.
4 Glasius, “What Authoritarianism is … and is Not,” 518.
5 Waldner and Lust, “Unwelcome Change,” 106.
6 Ibid., 93.
7 Bermeo, “On Democratic Backsliding,” 5.
8 Ibid., 5.
9 Glasius, “What Authoritarianism is … and is Not,” 518.
10 Ibid., 523.
11 Tan, “‘Digital Learning’.”
12 Lührmann and Lindberg, “A Third Wave of Autocratization is Here.”
13 see Neuman, “Returning Practice to the Linguistic Turn,” 637–38.
14 Glasius, “What Authoritarianism is … and is Not,” 519.
15 Ibid.
16 Lührmann and Lindberg, “A Third Wave of Autocratization is Here.”
17 Ibid.
18 Smith, Democratic Innovations, 1.
19 Smith, Democratic Innovations.
20 See Gastil and Wright, “Legislature by Lot.”
21 Heller and Rao, Deliberation and Development.
22 He and Wagenaar, “Authoritarian Deliberation Revisited.”
23 See Elstub and Escobar, Handbook of Democratic Innovations.
24 Udupa, “India Needs a Fresh Strategy.”
25 See Ong and Cabañes, “When Disinformation Studies Meets Production Studies.”
26 Mietzner, “Authoritarian Innovations in Indonesia.”
27 Coleman, “Debate on Television,” 29.
28 Warren, “Deliberative Democracy and Authority,” 40.
29 See Bovens, “Analysing and Assessing Accountability.”
30 Glasius, “What Authoritarianism is … and is Not,” 215.
31 Morgenbesser, The Rise of Sophisticated Authoritarianism, 32.
32 Bunce and Wolchik, “Defeating Dictators,” 74.
33 Wedeen, Ambiguities of Domination, 6.
34 Runciman, How Democracy Ends.
35 Levitsky and Ziblatt, How Democracies Die.
36 Synder, On Tyranny.
37 see also Bermeo, “On Democratic Backsliding”; Lührmann and Lindberg, “A Third Wave of Autocratization is Here.”
38 Frum, “How to Build an Autocracy.”
39 Mechkova, Lührmann, and Lindberg, “How much Democratic Backsliding,” 168.
40 Keane, The New Despotism.
41 He and Wagenaar, “Authoritarian Deliberation Revisited,” 627; also see Yew and Zhu, “Innovative Autocrats.”
42 Keane, The New Despotism, 16.
43 He and Wagenaar, “Authoritarian Deliberation Revisited,” 624.
44 Keane, The New Despotism.
45 See Svolik, The Politics of Authoritarian Rule.
46 Morgenbesser and Pepinsky, “Elections as Causes of Democratization.”
47 Lührmann and Lindberg, “A Third Wave of Autocratization is Here.”
48 Kuhonta, Slater, and Yu, Southeast Asia in Political Science.
49 Cabañes and Cornelio, “The Rise of Trolls in the Philippines.”
50 Hughs and Eng, “Facebook, Contestation and Poor People’s Politics.”
51 Pepinsky, “Authoritarian Innovations.”
52 Waldner and Lust, “Unwelcome Change.”
53 Morgenbesser, The Rise of Sophisticated Authoritarianism.
54 Coppedge et al., “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: A New Approach.”
55 See Binn, “Algorithmic Accountability.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Nicole Curato
Nicole Curato is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Her research examines how democratic practice can take root in the aftermath of disasters, armed conflict, and urban crime.
Diego Fossati
Diego Fossati is Assistant Professor of Asian and International Studies at City University of Hong Kong. He studies political behaviour, accountability and representation, especially in the context of East and Southeast Asia.