New Threats to Democracy

This research focuses on new threats to democracy, with an emphasis on the inter-related challenges of radicalization, polarization, and political violence. In particular, using the most advanced tools of social science—surveys, survey experiments, and other methods—we seek to understand the economic, sociological, institutional, geographic, and cultural roots of radical right voting across advanced democracies. For example, what triggers radicalization processes? Why have radical right parties deepened their support with certain demographic groups? What explains the gender divide among radical right voting? What triggers spirals of polarization across political systems as political rivals begin to regard each other as not merely rivals but as existential threats? And what are polarization’s consequences for democracy? Finally, our research also seeks to understand the roots of political violence, investigating how social protest, voting and political violence interact.

Evolution of Democratic Ideas

The main premise of this research pillar is that the rise of democracy over the last two centuries was an ideational as well as institutional paradigm shift. The concept of 'democracy' was historically a pejorative term – equated with mob rule – in mainstream political discourse in the early nineteenth century. Today, to call something democratic is to bestow upon it the highest form of political legitimacy. How, when and why did this shift in discourse occur? Research in this area uses a variety of methods including statistical text analysis trace the ideational development of democracy across a range of democracies (e.g. Britain, the United States, France, Germany). For example, we investigate how German and British Members of Parliament in the 19th century talk about democracy, showing how and when MPS became gradually more positive in their usage of 'democracy' over the course of the nineteenth century and how the idea transformed from a dangerous into a popular.  A second face of this research program will be investigating recent innovations and changes in how citizens and political elites conceive of—and justify—democracy.

Democratic Transitions and Authoritarian Persistence

Our final research area is devoted to democratic transitions and authoritarian persistence. Despite the unprecedented triumph of liberal democracy in the 20th century, authoritarian rulers still dominate many countries. The developments in Sudan after the fall of long-term dictator al-Bashir illustrate the challenges of democratization processes. The fall of a dictator does not necessarily lead to the establishment of functioning democratic institutions. In several projects, we analyze which factors influence whether democratization succeeds and under which circumstances autocrats can remain in power. Among other things, we investigate the role of mass mobilization and civil society in democratization processes and autocrats' responses to dissent. Furthermore, we are working on measuring democratization and autocratization processes to make these phenomena more amenable to quantitative analysis. Thereby, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of the onset and outcome of regime transformations.

Completed Research Projects 

Political Legitimacy in times of crisis

Head:

Dr. Heiko Giebler, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels

Staff:

Dr. Constanza Sanhueza Petrarca

Student assistant: Sandra Horvath

Duration: December 2017 to September 2021

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research