Abstract

CASTALDO, Antonino. The crisis of democracy: a selective overview of the current academic debate. Relações Internacionais [online]. 2018, n.59, pp.09-27. ISSN 1645-9199.  https://doi.org/10.23906/ri2018.59a02.

The debate on the ‘crisis of democracy’ (cod) has recently become one of the hottest topics in the democratization literature. However, this literature may be considered embryonic for conceptual, methodological and theoretical reasons. To offer a systematic and selective overview of the current debate, I propose a descriptive typology which takes in consideration both domestic/international and objective/subjective dimensions of the cod. I conclude that while the phenomenon exists, it is currently perceived as more worrying than actual empirical evidences allow to suggest. However, some relevant changes in the conditions that led to the success of the third wave seem to justify a moderately pessimistic perspective on the future of democracy.

Keywords : Crisis of democracy; democratic backsliding; deconsolidation; democratic decline.

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