The contemporary global political landscape is marked by democratic uncertainty, the concentration of executive power, and polarized communication environments. Across both established and emerging democracies, the personal concentration of power and populist rhetoric have accelerated processes of democratic backsliding. These dynamics have reshaped not only institutional structures, but also societal patterns of political behavior and democratic attitudes that sustain or legitimize leadership with autocratizing tendencies. Although these phenomena are observed globally, Latin America has historically served as a key laboratory for analyzing the interplay between strong executives, populist mobilization, media ecosystems, and democratic erosion.
This open panel invites research examining the dynamics of contemporary autocratization processes through national, cross-regional comparative, or global perspectives. By integrating Latin American empirical and theoretical insights with dynamics from other regions, the panel seeks to generate contributions for rethinking political interaction within a generalized context of eroding democratic features.
We welcome paper proposals focusing on, but not limited to, the following thematic axes:
Autocratization: Theoretical and empirical frameworks on the gradual backsliding of democracy.
Executive Power and Presidentialism: The impact of hyper-presidentialism and the personalization of power on democratic institutions.
Political Behavior and Democratic Attitudes: Individual and structural determinants of support for democracy or tolerance toward authoritarianism.
Political Communication and Populism: Strategic discourse, polarization, and media dynamics in populist mobilization.
Regional Contributions to the Global Debate: Conceptual lessons from Latin America to address global democratic uncertainty.
