Theme Panel: Democratic Backsliding and Opposition Resistance

July 28, 2025 APSA Annual Meeting, Theme Panels Comments Off on Theme Panel: Democratic Backsliding and Opposition Resistance

Co-sponsored by Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

In-Person Full Paper Panel

Participants:

  • (Discussant) Orçun Selçuk, Luther College
  • (Discussant) Laura Gamboa, University of Notre Dame
  • (Chair) Laura Gamboa, University of Notre Dame

Session Description:

Democracies in many corners of the globe today are under threat, often at the hands of their elected leaders. These incumbent-led attacks on democratic institutions have directly limited the ability of regime opponents to operate, while also reshaping the behaviors of various political actors in response. A large body of literature has explored the causes of this form of democratic backsliding, but far less is known about the role of opposition groups in resisting it or its longer-term consequences. This panel explores these critical issues.

Slater examines the experiences of Malaysia and Indonesia to argue that for both democracy and diversity to thrive, political coalitions supporting these values must win. Ramirez focuses on the role of institutional design in shaping divergent outcomes in democratic backsliding and demonstrates how Brazil’s centralized and professionalized electoral system facilitated a quicker return to institutional equilibrium, while the U.S.’s fragmented system led to more prolonged disruptions. Schafer uses the case of Turkey to highlight the rise of political self-censorship as a direct consequence of democratic backsliding, showing how attacks by politicians on journalists have led journalists in Turkey to self-censor unlike those in the diaspora. Meanwhile, Yoel examines the role of international actors in aiding opposition movements against backsliding, arguing that foreign policy rhetoric in leading democracies—through mechanisms such as naming and shaming—can empower oppositions by signaling international support and enabling the transnationalization of their struggles. Finally, Riedl and Friesen use a novel dataset on democratic resistance to explore how context-specific factors shape opposition strategies, finding globally patterned “playbooks” of resistance and identifying the critical role of the interaction between institutions and social mobilization in sustaining democracy.

Together, these contributions shed light on the multifaceted dynamics underlying democratic backsliding and opposition resistance.