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This study examines if the process of democratic backsliding is observable in the discursive patterns of a government that is the driving force of democratic erosion which can be useful when attempting to discern if a government has undemocratic ambitions. The actor analyzed to answer the research question is the government of Ethiopia. Three hypotheses have been developed based on Levitsky and Ziblatt’s model of democratic backsliding and from these, an analytical framework containing a set of questions has been developed. The questions have been used to systematically analyze the source material. This study found that the Ethiopian government framed those in law and law enforcement agencies and other opposition it perceives as adversaries as illegitimate actors while glorifying and legitimizing their own. In addition, the study found that the government argued that criticism directed at it not following laws or the constitution was either from an illegitimate source or not based on facts.

This dissertation attempts to answer the research question on whether there is a common pattern of democratic backsliding. Levitsky and Ziblatt’s theoretical model of democratic backsliding is utilized as the guiding theory. The theory suggests that Democratic Backsliding has three stages where different goals are attempted to be achieved. The goals are first to take over state institutions, thereafter to use these institutions to target political opponents and protect the government from criticism. The third stage concerns entrenching the political dominance. The research question is answered by a systematic comparison of Hungary, Turkey and Venezuela. The results are that each case does follow the suggested path of democratic backsliding, with certain differences. More emphasis is put on the media, election monitoring, and how the institutions are controlled. The institutions are often taken control over by hijacking the nomination process, a fact overlooked by the theoretical model. These aspects are not expanded on in the theoretical model, and this dissertation suggest adding these to the model.

The rise to power of Viktor Orbán in 2010 has brought with it democratic backsliding and suppression of rights in Hungary, a country that in the early 2000s was seen as one of the most promising new democracies in Eastern Europe. In this thesis speeches held by Viktor Orbán during the period of 2011-2022 are examined and analyzed and further connected with identified populist strategies and framing analysis. Which tries to understand the relation between communication in the context of sender and receiver and how the receiver might interpret the message differently depending on how it is “framed”. In an attempt to understand how and which populist strategies and rhetoric has been used to justify and motivate three overarching developments during Fidesz’s period in power: the major constitutional changes of 2012 and 2013, the developments on migration and the “Stop Soros Law” as well as the suppression of LGBT rights. This paper concludes that Viktor Orbán has continuously used populist rhetoric to “attack” and undermine his opposition, whether this is in the form of the EU or domestically, championing the Hungarian cause and its people thus justifying the changes that Fidesz has implemented.

Since the political party Law and justice's access to power in 2015, laws have been implemented that restrict the freedom of institutions such as the media and the court. The Church has also increased involvement in decision-making, including in the abortion issue and LGBTQ issues. These events among many have led to ideas that Poland, like Ukraine, will return to autocracy, a process known as democratic backsliding.The thesis aims to investigate in what way Poland meets the requirements for democratic backsliding. This by answering the question: In what way does Poland's political situation meet the criterias for democratic backsliding? In order to answer the question, two theories have been used, Nancy Bermeo's categorizations of democratic backsliding and Ozan O. Varol's theory of stealth authoritarianism. The method that will be used in the thesis is a qualitative case study method, where the period 2008-2014 is compared with the period 2015-2020. The study will be based on a selection of texts and reports. The results show that Poland met one of the criterias for democratic backsliding during the period 2008-2014 and all criteria except one during the period 2015-2020. This leads to the conclusion that the occurrence of democratic backsliding has increased during the party "Law and Justice" reign.

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Democracy around the world is threatened by autocratic leaders who wants to demolish the fundamental democratic values. In this essay the aim is to get an understanding of how democratic backsliding in Poland and Hungary appears and what differences and similarities there is between the two countries and to see if there is a generalization. The theory is constructed by Bermeo, Haggard and Kaufmans definition and research of democratic backsliding. To be able to specify the research Levitsky and Ziblatts four warnings signs of autocratic tendencies have been used.  The time frame is between 2010 – 2022 because it is when the Hungarian party Fidesz was elected. The study is a qualitative comparative study. The result of the research could show that there is a democratic backsliding happening in both countries and there is a lot of similarities between them. Most of the backsliding is due to the changes in legislation and the political system.

The security and development nexus outlines the interdependence between security and development, this theoretical framework has been used in peacebuilding efforts around the world and the idea of the concept is that both security and development reinforce each other, more security is expected to create more development and vice versa. If a society is riddled with poverty and economic despair, insecurity will follow as a result, and likewise an economy will not be able to grow and flourish if a secure environment is not applied. Both security and development are key to secure a sustainable peace in countries that are ravaged by civil war, this security and development nexus is today consensus in the community of peace of development. Development and security are reinforcing each other in both a positive and a negative circle, higher levels of security leads to higher levels of development and vice versa. El Salvador is a country plagued by underdevelopment and grave security concerns. Recently the country has managed to heavily increase its levels of security from criminal gangs, although this has come at the expense of the country's democratic structure, which has been undermined by the government. This thesis used the concept of democratic backsliding as a theory, which manifested in El Salvador. The study has also utilized the security and development nexus to analyze the connections between security and development in El Salvador. The study confirms the connection that the nexus outlines, which can be observed in El Salvador. Security has improved and the economy has continued to grow at a moderate pace. The nexuses between security, democracy and development have been examined in this study, and our research indicates that all three concepts together don't enforce each other positively in the case of El Salvador. This study has been utilizing both qualitative and quantitative sources of information.

The EU is an organisation built on the concept of democracy. However, recent developments within certain member-states clearly contradict this claim. A paradox has hence occurred, which is referred to as the “Copenhagen-Dilemma”; only fully democratic states can become members of the union - but once a membership exists, the EU has proven inadequate to deal with democratic backsliding-tendencies. This essay argues that the political debate regarding this dilemma constitutes of at least two main categories of articles and within each of these, three positions can be found: Those focusing on causes to the problem and further how it can be understood are the ‘problem-oriented’ articles. Those arguing for solutions to the Copenhagen-dilemma are the ‘solution-oriented’ articles. Voices within this second category have been examined further in the analysis. They all accept the democratic deficit to be a problem for the EU – but the three positions offer different perceptions on how it can be countered most effectively: 1) The Conservatives; argues that the EU should use the tools already available and instead change their praxis 2) The Reformists; argues that the EU should further develop and reform the available tools 3) The Radicals; argues that the problem has caused a need for new institutions and tools to be created within the EU

In several modern countries, media have to operate in "disabling environments" with limited journalistic freedom and judicial independence. Central and Eastern European states represent such settings to various extent, as the takeover of media regulatory organisations and decreasing media pluralism have become characteristic for this region, indicating a systemic shift. Nevertheless, the high- profile cases of Poland and Hungary could have contributed to overgeneralised conclusions regarding the nature of such transformations, attributing them to, inter alia, the rise of right-wing populism. Using the method of paired comparison, this thesis examines Poland and the Czech Republic to determine the exact mechanisms of change behind media capture in these countries. I contend that different manifestations of neo-authoritarianism in the region are responsible for manifold attacks on media independence, including sophisticated strategies of using SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, and increasing concentration of media ownership combined with potential conflicts of interest. I conclude by suggesting directions for further research and policy-making to address media freedom on both national and European levels.