How to Strengthen Democratic Resilience

Over the past two decades, democracy has experienced a recession that left no region of the world untouched. Authoritarian regimes have become more repressive, complicating efforts to build consensus around the value of democracy.

Democracy support has also shifted its focus. In the 1990s, efforts aimed at supporting democratisation were based on the idea that it was a linear and stable process. However, this belief has increasingly been challenged by growing concerns about democratic erosion in supposedly “established democracies”. Meanwhile, authoritarian regimes have become more adept at learning and adapting, making traditional approaches less effective. The convergence of these trends has contributed to an increased focus on democratic resilience. 

This Democracy Deep Dive aims to enable activists, civil society groups, policymakers, international donors, and researchers to better understand democratic resilience by:

1. explaining what democratic resilience is and why it matters;
2. providing guidance on the most effective ways to strengthen resilience; 
3. communicating recent academic research findings to a broader audience; and
4. highlighting important areas for future research.

Drawing on extensive literature reviews and discussions with activists and policymakers from over 15 countries, the authors offer five lessons about how to reconceptualise and defend democratic resilience. The authors advocate for more innovative and forward-thinking approaches to better respond to the adaptability of their authoritarian counterparts.