Evidence is strong that affective polarization and democratic backsliding are interlinked phenomena.
Nonresident Scholar, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Jennifer McCoy is a nonresident scholar in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she focuses on political polarization and democratic resilience in the U.S. and around the world.
Murat Somer
Murat Somer is a professor of political science at Koç University in Istanbul and an expert on political polarization, religious and secular politics, ethnic conflict, autocratization, and democratization in Turkey and around the world.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Europe has an interest in supporting Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan as he tries to make peace with neighbors and loosen ties with Russia. But it is depersonalized support in the long term, not quickfire flash, that will win the day.
Thomas de Waal
The future looks bleak for independent media worldwide, but there is a robust infrastructure of knowledge, organizations, and people to build upon.
Daniel Sabet, Susan Abbott
Defenders of democracy often split over perceptions, methods, urgency levels, and priorities.
Murat Somer, Jennifer McCoy
Lessons from other backsliding democracies show that mass mobilization needs to feed into an electoral strategy.
Saskia Brechenmacher, Shreya Joshi
Hungarians head to the polls on April 12 for an election of national and European consequence. Three different outcomes are on the cards, each with their own implications for the EU.
Zsuzsanna Szelényi
