Description
This Element contributes to a better understanding of the burning question of why voters support politicians who subvert democracy. Instead of focusing on the usual explanations such as polarization or populism, the Element breaks new ground by focusing on the interplay between democracy and nationalism. By relying on the experiences of five countries (Serbia, Poland, Hungary, Israel, and Turkey) and using exclusive data obtained through surveys and interviews with actors involved, the Element answers three key questions: (1) How the subversion of democracy in the name of the nation unfolds, (2) Why many voters acquiesce to the subversion of democracy by nationalist elites, and (3) What matters in resisting the attacks on democracy with nationalist appeals. The answers to these questions reconcile demand-side and supply-side findings on democratic backsliding and shed new light on how to fight back more successfully.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction; 2. People's Simultaneous Support for Democracy and those Who Subvert It: When Voters Abandon Democracy for the Nation; 3. How Nationalist Elites Subvert Democracy; 4. How Nationalist Elites Convince People to Abandon Democracy; 5. Resisting the Subversion of Democracy in the Name of the Nation: The Role of Counternarrative; 6. Conclusion; References.
