Domestic and transnational opposition against authoritarian governments – The role of opposition stakeholders in the fight against democratic backsliding

Abstract

The vast literature on democratic backsliding in European Union member states has focused on the role of EU institutions, particularly the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice, in addressing this fundamental conflict. What has been largely neglected is the attempts of national or transnational opposition stakeholders to resist backsliding amid an increasingly difficult domestic environment. The panel assembles papers that examine the fight against authoritarian governments and focuses on the activities of different opposition stakeholders in EU member states as well as states aspiring to membership. Our understanding of opposition stakeholders is broad, including domestic opposition parties, opposition-led municipalities or cities, civil society movements and NGOs. Specifically, the panel brings together papers that address the following questions: 1) Which domestic and/ or transnational opposition stakeholders have emerged as increasingly relevant actors in the fight against incumbents? 2) What kind of strategies do opposition stakeholders resort to (e.g. addressing EU institutions and International Organisations, building broad transnational alliances)? 3) How do opposition stakeholders engage in building vertical and horizontal networks? 4) How can we assess their influence on both the incumbents and the EU’s rule of law policies?

Title	Details
Playing the international card: Exploring the international opportunities of domestic resistance actors in autocratizing countries	View Paper Details
Driving forces of European reforms? Georgian civil society actors in a political deadlock	View Paper Details
Strategies of boundary opening in backsliding states: The case of Hungary	View Paper Details
Just ineffective or intentionally constrained? Explaining the long-term opposition in Latvia, Poland and Hungary	View Paper Details