Over the past decade, a third wave of autocratisation has stormed the world, hitting democracies and autocracies alike. The ongoing democratic backsliding is attributed to a range of factors. From “executive aggrandisement” and strategic manipulation of elections to "autocratic lawfare”. Such autocratic tendencies are contributing to autocratisation in dominant party regimes in Africa. If most dominant party systems are increasingly autocratising in Africa, then there is a problem with the dominant party structure that warrants academic inquiry. However, the literature on one-party dominance and democratic consolidation in Africa are a bit old, hence do not address the current debates on democratic backsliding in the continent. Botswana and Tanzania are interesting cases of autocratising dominant party systems because they have witnessed rapid erosion of democratic qualities over the decade. But what effects do these patterns of democratic backsliding have on the quality of democracy in dominant party systems in Africa? Employing a comparative research design (MSSD) and using historical institutionalism and the substantive democratic theory as well as relying on secondary data in Botswana and Tanzania (Mainly Afrobarometer surveys, V-Dem Index, CPI Index, Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and Freedom Index), this study explores this question within the framework of peace and development research. It analysed four variables: management of social tensions facing the regime, the scope of presidential power, governance performance, and the nature of the electoral competition. Findings suggest that a dominant party structure in Botswana and Tanzania creates conditions that erode the quality of democracy, hence democratic backsliding. Therefore, the thesis argues that autocratisation in Botswana and Tanzania suggests reproduction of one-party dominance at the expense of consolidation of substantive democracy. This way, a dominant party structure in Africa appears to be a peace and development research problem because it creates strong incentives for dominant parties to autocratise rather than democratise when challenged by a strong political opposition.

The study examines to what extent Levitsky & Ziblatt’s theory of democratic backsliding, as a universal three-step sequential process of democratic deterioration, can explain the novel phenomena of Covid-19 autocratization, in the context of Poland. Via said aim, the research serves as an explorative investigation into the strategies and methods used to invoke democratic backsliding amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The theory’s external validity is assessed by analyzing the most blatant and far-reaching policies of Polish Covid-19 autocratization, targeting the presidential election, health personnel, and civil servants. To structure said analysis Vedung’s goal-attainment evaluation model is utilized. Results conclude that the theory lacks significant explanatory power. While the targets of democratic deterioration remained relevant, theoretical conformity only occurred for one of the analyzed policies, while the rest revealed tactics of democratic deterioration not theoretically applicable. Moreover, substantial parts of the theory remained irrelevant, and the theory’s sequential aspect did not apply. Consequently, the study proposes a revised version of the theoretical framework, encompassing strategies of democratic deterioration specific to the examined context and that disregards the sequential aspect. The likely explanation for the lack of theoretical conformity is attributed to the structural component; the theory suggests democratic backsliding as a gradual and strategic process, whereas Covid-19 autocratization occurred more chaotically and opportunistically, instigating autocratization whenever and wherever possible. The opportunistic structure also elucidates the novel and imaginative strategies through which autocratization was invoked, capitalizing on the alternative prospects of democratic deterioration presented by the crisis.

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Like in many parts of the world, South Africa has experienced a democratic decline. However, every country has its own reason for that decline. This paper will with the help of a case study method detect and analyze the possible reasons for the democratic backsliding in South Africa. The paper will keep its originality with the involvement of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it possibly affects the democratic state in the country. This study finds that there has been a lack of positive development in South Africa since the end of the apartheid regime. Poverty, Corruption, and a prevalent relative inequality still stain the South African society and the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed it to a new elevated level.

The essay examines how Polish representatives defend constitutional sovereignty over EU-law by analyzing, and comparing, the argumentation from the Polish prime minister Matteuz Morawiecki and the Polish constitutional court. The primary source material is Morawiecki’s letter to heads of governments as well as his statement in the European Parliament. After close qualitative content analysis the argumentation has been categorized and concrete analysis questions have been formulated from the theoretic framework’s three main headlines: democratic backsliding and illiberalism; the rule of law and the constitutions precedence and eurosceptic populism. The tribunal argues mainly from a legal standpoint while Morawiecki’s argumentation is based on EU-skepticism influenced by populism. The main result of the essay is that Morawiecki and the tribunal’s argumentation to defend Polish constitutional sovereignty is categorized as “soft” euroscepticism. Morawiecki furthermore argues that Poland is a strong supporter of the EU, while the tribunal does not take a definitive stance. Both argue that Poland is a liberal democracy that lives up to the Copenhagen criterias while questioning to what extent the EU does so in practice.

The liberal theory of international relations primarily associates international cooperation with liberal democratic states, to the point that a theory of scholars Poast and Urpelainen claim that international cooperation with consolidated democracies through international organizations may boost the democratization of or at least prevent democratic backsliding in non-consolidated democracies. This paper investigates the possibility of decoupling these theories from democracies and democratizing by examining whether Chinese efforts within the framework of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road foreign policy project have a similar but reverse effect on its target states, prompting developments in authoritarian directions. Though the results of study are inconclusive on account of the relative youth of the studied IOs, they indicate a strong possibility that could do with further study.

The rapid decline of democracy in Hungary has been one of the EU's most challenging phenomena. The Hungarian parliamentary elections in 2010 saw Viktor Orban's Fidesz party rise to prominence and win a majority in the Hungarian parliament. That would be the starting point of a rapid decline in democracy but also in terms of civil liberties and political rights. This essay aims to address the serious issue of democratic backsliding in Hungary which has influenced other European union (EU) member states to follow the same course, such as Poland. This research identifies issues posed by the current ruling Fidesz party in five arenas: the civil society, the political society, the rule of law, the state bureaucracy, and the economic society. The issue of democratic backsliding is a common phenomena in the 21st century. Therefore, this bachelor's thesis will examine why Hungary became the subject of an extensive democratic backsliding which would turn the country into a hybrid regime.