Authoritarian Practices and Democratic Decline

Democracy is at risk in ways we have not seen in a long time. As democratic decline becomes increasingly evident across the globe, authoritarian practices are also applied in (formal) democracies, undermining core democratic principles. This panel seeks to explore the ways in which these practices, both online and offline, contribute to the decline of democratic practices and institutions. We welcome empirical investigations on a range of topics, including digital manipulation and repression, the limitation of media freedom, the use of legal mechanisms to stifle dissent, and other forms of executive overreach. Examples may include official disinformation campaigns, illiberal public discourse, illiberal behaviour and hate-speech used by leading politicians (both in government and opposition), governmental abuse of digital privacy, “fake news” laws and other restrictive legislation, or the politicisation of the judiciary. The goal of the panel is to bring together insights into how these practices impact and reshape democracy.