Globalization, Populism and Legitimacy in Contemporary Democracy

Abstract

Is democracy under threat? In the past several years, this question has caused an intense and controversial debate. Larry Diamond (J Democracy 26: 141–155, 2015) as well as Steven Levitsky and Lucian Way (J Democracy 26: 45–58, 2015) speak of a “democratic recession,” Nancy Bermeo (J Democracy 27: 5–19, 2016) calls it “democratic backsliding,” while Roberto Foa and Yascha Munck (J Democracy 28: 5–15, 2017) name it “deconsolidation.” Arch Puddington and Tyler Roylance (J Democracy 28: 105–119, 2017) see the nature of the challenge to democracy as “the dual threat of populists and autocrats.”