‘Things are serious: the ‘great democratic revolution’ of modern times, as Tocqueville once called it, appears to be spluttering to a halt. Some observers, recalling the disasters of the 1920s and 30s, are suggesting that an anti-democratic counterrevolution on a global scale has begun.’
This is how John Keane begins his keynote article to a new Eurozine focal point gathering perspectives from eastern Europe, Central Asia and beyond, in countries and regions where the future of democracy hangs in the balance.
But is the writing really on the wall for democracy? Or does a declinist bias prevent us from recognizing moments of democratic renewal? What can ‘established democracies’ learn from those struggling for democratic standards outside the centre?
In this focal point, empirical and theoretical approaches combine to provide a snapshot of the state of democracy at a historical moment of war and instability.
