The Policy Process in Democratic Backsliding: A Proposed Framework of Analysis

This introductory chapter presents fundamental concepts to better understand the policy process during democratic backsliding under illiberal populists’ rule. This framework emphasizes institutional hardball tactics, whereby leaders stress and push the boundaries of institutional constraints, producing policy outcomes that diverge from democratic expectations. We identify political polarization as an essential enabler of institutional hardball tactics, as it creates an environment in which illiberal populists can draw political dividends from attacks on institutions. The disruptive effects created by illiberal populists playing institutional hardball under political polarization result in policy dismantling, disengagement with policy problems, and scapegoating of minority groups within the policy agenda. These outcomes render the policy process unusual, unstable, and unpredictable, deviating from conventional frameworks envisioned in stable pluralistic democracies.