Democracy in the prison of political science
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0192512120932435 |
| Published date | 01 November 2022 |
| Date | 01 November 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
964902IPS0010.1177/0192512120932435International Political Science Reviewde Oliveira
research-article2020
Meta Analysis
Democracy in the prison
of political science
Felipe Antunes de Oliveira
University of Sussex, UK
Abstract
After the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump, a widespread perception emerged that
the world was witnessing a crisis of liberal democracy. Not surprisingly, said crisis is at the core of
a new batch of political science literature. This review article takes stock of some key contribu-
tions to the literature, namely Albright (2018), Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018), Norris and Inglehart
(2018), Runciman (2018a) and Eatwell and Goodwin (2018). My key argument is that the
reviewed books are fundamentally limited by problematic ontological assumptions stemming
from artificial disciplinary boundaries. Privileging either individual traits of authoritarian leaders
or the very specific experience of the USA or the UK, they fail to capture varied, yet deeply
interconnected international expressions of contemporary authoritarianism. Following Justin
Rosenberg’s open invitation to place the concept of multiplicity at the centre of a renewed
research agenda, I suggest that a more holistic take on the crisis of democracy requires a
renewed attention to inter-societal dynamics.
Keywords
Political science, politics, democracy, class, multiplicity
Books reviewed:
Albright, Madeleine. Fascism: A Warning. HarperCollins, 2018.
Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die. Broadway Books, 2018.
Corresponding author:
Felipe Antunes de Oliveira, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex, Arts C, Falmer, BrightonBN1 9SN,
UK.
Email: fa263@sussex.ac.uk
International Political Science Review
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2022, Vol. 43(5) 648 –661
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