Reading Paper 9-democratic backsliding PDF

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Reading Paper 9—Democratic Backsliding Brooke White Capstone Due: 9 Nov 2017 Author: Nancy Bermeo is the Nuffield Chair of Comparative Politics at Oxford University and PIIRS Senior Scholar at Princeton University. Her most recent book is titled Parties, Movements and Democracy in the Developing World. Irena Grudzińska-Gross is Research Scholar at Princeton University in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Professor in the Institute of Slavic Studies of Polish academy of Sciences. She is working on modern European intellectual history and literature, especially in relation to the formation of east-Central European nation-states and their cultures. Date/Context: The 21st century has seen many democratic movements around the world. Specifically, in the Middle-East, the world has seen democratization arise. This led to US involvement in the situation in the early 2000s. Asia and South America were also regions with an up rise in democratization during this era. Not all democratization was completed though, and this uprising has also led to democratic backsliding in many nations—for example Venezuela. Thesis: Bermeo argues that forms of democratic backsliding have varied in frequency over time; that some of the most blatant forms of backsliding are not less common, and that more vexing forms of backsliding are becoming more common. Overall, backsliding reflects democracy’s advance, not its retreat. Grudzinska-Gross argues that the initial structure of the post-1989 transitions, with their going back to the old party structures, as well as the slogan of “return to Europe,” had in itself and now realized potential of resurrecting the problems of the past. The link between western Democracy and economic well-being is questioned and the decoupling of democracy and prosperity made the European Union’s limitations on sovereignty unbearable. Gist: (Bermeo) Democratic backsliding has changed dramatically since the Cold War. Openended coups d’état, executive coups, and blatant election-day vote fraud are declining while promissory coups, executive aggrandizement and strategic electoral manipulation and harassment are increasing. Contemporary forms of backsliding are especially vexing because they are legitimated by the very institutions democracy promoters prioritize. The current mix of backsliding is more easily reversible than the past mix and successor dictatorships are shorterlived and less authoritarian. (Grudzińska-Gross) Poland and Hungary there has been a revival in an ideology, specifically right-wing ideology, present pre-WWII, partly to overlook the humiliating experiences which occurred between 1945 and 1989. This region has a significant history which they are overlooking in this shift. They are democratically backsliding because of the rise in nationalistic and populist ideals, which undermine democracy inherently. Telling Examples: 1. There are three major varieties of backsliding which were historically prevalent, but in recent years seem to be waning. This includes: coups d’ etat, executive coups by elected leaders, and blatant election-day vote fraud—all of these have declined in frequency.

2. Other major varieties of democratic backsliding are on the rise or remaining steady though, these have been largely overlooked. This includes: promissory coups, executive aggrandizement, and manipulating elections strategically. 3. The political slogan, post-1989, was “return to Europe” which emphasized not only the joining of Western political institutions, but also a return to one’s own past—rooted in the pre-war history, skipping the events of WWII. This slogan advocated for ideas that seemed to be working. 4. By overlooking the humiliating time period of WWII in Eastern Europe, it presented a scary situation regarding ideology. By ignoring this time, it became normalized once again to support nationalist and extreme right-wing ideologies such as Nazism. There was a moral advantage of repression which created an anti-Soviet rhetoric. Critiques: I really enjoyed both of the readings for this week. I thought they presented unique arguments regarding backsliding. I especially found Grudzińska-Gross’s reading really great because the argument presented made complete sense to me but was something I would not have thought of otherwise. If I had to present a counter argument to the piece, I would argue that the rise in right-wing ideology in the Eastern European countries could be been attributed not to an overlook in historical events of WWII but instead in an unsettled population of people who were rebelling against communist ideals of the Soviet Union.

Brooke White Capstone Final Paper Outline Thesis: Fake news is a threat to democracy because it inherently increases ideological polarization and populism by interrupting and overpowering the flow of truthful information. I. Context a. Contemporary problem--highly debated in recent history i. Globalization ii. Digital age, technology, social media 1. Polarization b. Define Fake News i. ‘post truth’ (Speed) c. Found throughout the globe d. Dates back to the Cold War (Reston) i. Russia (KGB, Service A) e. Created by individuals as well as state governments f. Main motivations (Allcot): i. Get clicks/likes/ads/attention ii. Seek to advance ideology g. Why does it matter? i. Importance (Allcot) ii. Statistics (Barthel) iii. Political discourse iv. Public perception II. Democracy a. Define b. discuss democratization i. Relation to fake news 1. Undermined 2. Accurate information necessary for democracy to work (Burshtein) c. Technology and Social media i. Democracy buffeted by tech changes (Allcot) ii. Becoming more important in spreading news/information 1. Polarization becoming more apparent 2. Algorithmic filters—only shows people ideas they will like or agree with a. ‘echo chambers’ or ‘filter bubbles’ b. Isolation from contrasting views d. Rise of populism i. Define ii. Relation to democracy 1. Relation to polarization 2. Fake news fueled

iii. Ability to address specific audience--enhanced iv. Contemporary examples e. Post-truth time period i. Transformation to substance of populist political discourse ii. Facts less influential than emotional appeals/personal beliefs iii. Hyper-reality (Speed) f. Ardent Quote—democracy based on ability to distinguish between fact and fiction i. Lost when no longer able to make that distinction III. Case Study: Ukraine and Russia a. Russia=propaganda machine (Reston) i. Define and discuss b. Russia/Ukraine relationship i. Geography ii. Brief history 1. USSR 2. Crimea 3. Democratization iii. Today 1. Independent but interconnected 2. Ukraine highly influenced by Russia c. Political tension i. Ukraine and the EU d. Russian intentions i. Weaponization (Reston) ii. Polarize pro-Russian population iii. Use social media to their advantage (Mejias) 1. Neoliberalism 2. Beneficial to the state 3. Would not let it happen otherwise e. Execution/Follow through i. Alternative interpretation/reality ii. Denial by Russia—Documented iii. Targeted more than just Ukraine 1. Elections a. Debilitate campaigns f. Response by Ukraine i. EU ii. Stopfake.org g. Tie back to thesis: Undermining democracy i. Polarization ii. Convincing Ukrainians they are dependent on Russia iii. Control much of the Ukrainian media/news...