Coordinating against Authoritarian Power Bids

• In Event: Learning from Global Democratic Challenges and Innovations Mini-Conference I: Countering Illiberalism in Liberal Democracies II: Political and Civil Society

Abstract

Issues of collective agency in times of authoritarian challenges underscore the need to prevent coordination problems both within and across groups committed to the preservation of a democratic regime. Doing so requires three lines of action. The first pertains to the ability to name and assess the nature of the threat posed by an authoritarian challenger. The second line of action relates to the need to overcome democratic groups’ propensity for equivocation and paralysis when faced with sudden bids for state power in the service of an authoritarian agenda. The third line of action establishes regular venues for communication across democratic groups for the purpose of devising strategies of democratic consolidation at different phases of an authoritarian challenge. The paper analyzes the success and failure of coordination strategies in comparative and historical perspective.

Author

• Ivan Ermakoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison