Democracies in Peril?

Hans Keman is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), the Netherlands.

• List of tables List of figures List of boxes Preface1 Prologue: democracy in the 21st century 1.1 Democracies in peril: backsliding and de-democratisation 1.2 The concept of democraticness: proto-types 1.3 Levels of democraticness: the yard-stick for comparison1.4 The storyline as a “road trip”: democratisation and political decay1.5 Value-free and value-related knowledge: a realist position PART 1Studying democracy: detecting flaws, defects and perils 2 Reversing trends in “democraticness” 2.1 Democracy in peril? 2.2 Are “full” democracies indeed reverting? 2.3 Full democracies in contrast to flawed and defective democracies 2.4 Perilous developments: potential reasons and questions to ask 3 Comparative political science and the study of democracy 3.1 The academic debate: room for improvement3.2 Omissions in the study of democratic politics 3.3 Comparing democratic states: full, flawed and defective polities 4 Thinking about democracy: the origins of the liberal model 4.1 From ideas to design 4.2 The enlightenment and the concept of the democratic state 4.3 John Stuart Mill and liberal democracy 4.4 The roots of liberal democracy laid out: still work in progress PART 2Pathways towards liberal Democratisation 5 Designing liberal democracy: institutionalising the polity 5.1 Constitutional trajectories toward “representative” governance5.2 Missing dimensions, institutional progress and constraints5.3 The shaping of the polity towards liberal democracy 5.4 Considerations on the road to liberal democratisation6 Towards universal suffrage and representation of the people 6.1 Electoral inclusiveness and fair representation 6.2 Finding the optimal solution to fair and effective representation 6.3 The effects of electoral systems: inclusiveness and pluriform representation 6.4 Institutional engineering: the choice of an optimal electoral system 7 Who governs at the end of the day in a democracy? 7.1 Power distribution and indirect democracy: inevitable or containable?7.2 Democracy and selected leadership: the role of political elites 7.3 Indirect democracy: selecting accountable leadership 7.4 Elitism versus pluralism: power concentration or dispersion? 7.5 The scope and limits of liberal democracyPART 3Contemporary approaches to the development of democracy 978 Polyarchy and pluralism: waves of democratisation 8.1 Polyarchy: the route to “full” democracy? 8.2 Pathways of democratisation: sequences towards polyarchy 8.3 Waves of democratisation: path dependencies and critical junctures8.4 The second wave of democratisation and reversal (1920–1939) 8.5 Post-war waves towards polyarchy and beyond 8.6 Conceptual considerations on polyarchy 9 Consensus democracy: the alternative to polyarchy? 9.1 Cleavage theory and the coming about of consensus democracy9.2 Institutional engineering a peaceful polity: consensus democracy 9.3 Consensus democracy and a better and kinder society 9.4 Considerations on the theory of consensus democracy 10 Parties and democracy: does politics matter? 10.1 Politics – polity – policy and democracy 10.2 Complexities of democracy: political parties and policy performance10.3 Electoral politics and parties in competition and government 10.4 To what extent does democratic politics matter? PART 4The liberal model as a yardstick of full democracy? 11 Ranking the stars of democraticness 11.1 The end of history or political decay? 11.2 Liberal democracy: the paradigm to follow? Ranking the stars 11.3 The state of democracy in the 21st century 11.4 Towards fuller democracies or the end of the liberal model? 12 The limits of the liberal democratic model 12.1 From liberal to full democracy? Variations of democraticness 12.2 The paradigm of liberal democracy contested: toward a fuller democracy? 12.3 Challenging liberal democracy: reforming the system 12.4 The state of the liberal model: embeddedness or moving away? 12.5 The limits to liberal democracy 13 Signs of backsliding: illiberalism and populism 13.1 “Illiberalism” and “anti-pluralism” and the level of democraticness 13.2 Anti-pluralism and the impact of populism 13.3 The growth of anti-democratic tendencies: illiberalism and populism 13.4 Backsliding towards defective democracyPART 5Liberal democracy, the national state and governing society 14 Macro-politics and micro-performance of the “state” 14.1 The problem-solving capability of the democratic state 14.2 Public policy formation: political choice and policy performance14.3 Trust is hard to gain but easy to lose: output legitimacy 15 Liberal democracy, legitimacy and stateness: micro performance 15.1 Democratic politics, public policy and societal performance 15.2 The crisis-solving capacity of democratic state: coping with a pandemic 15.3 Avoiding misery, inequalities and the pursuit of happiness? 15.4 The democratic advantage and effective stateness as a sine qua non 16 Legitimacy and the liberal democratic state in the 21st century 16.1 Democracy and the state: entering a new age16.2 Trust and confidence in institutions16.3 The rise of social media and its role in politics and society16.4 The battle for the people: mainstream party politics in disregard16.5 The shift to provocative parliamentarism: harbouring populist illiberalism17 Epilogue: backsliding into the 21st century: outmoded or viable and resilient?17.1 Liberal democracy: state of affairs17.2 Fear for autocratisation: institutional decay and anti-democratic ethos17.3 Positive conditions and negative consequences of democraticnessIndex

'Democracies in Peril proceeds with the evenhandedness of a diplomat and the incisive analytical insight of a superbly informed scholar. In it Hans Keman explains the value of democracy, with all its limitations, and how the rising menaces of anti-pluralism and populism are slowly derailing liberal democratic practices from within. All who care to understand what is at stake—and we all should—will gain a clear-eyed appreciation of the stakes by pondering the ideas Keman puts on offer.'Michael McDonald, Professor of Political Science, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA'This is a thoughtful and realistic account of the much discussed crisis of democracies today making us to understand their weaknesses and defects with ensuing diminishing policy performance and a loss of trust in government. The comprehensive analysis of democracies allows the author to suggest ways out of the current legitimacy crisis by making proposals for building higher levels of confidence in the democratic system. The book sets new standards in the discussion on the democratic backlash. A must read!'Dietmar Braun, Professor of Political Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland"This insightful book by a longstanding scholar of comparative politics examines contemporary democratic backsliding from various perspectives. Focusing on 38 cases from around the world, Keman uses liberal democracy as the central point of analysis... The book draws on an extensive, up-to-date literature, and each chapter summarizes its key points and provides selected suggested readings. Individual chapters provide useful material for discussion. That said, this is not an introductory work. Recommended for upper-level and graduate courses, especially seminars.Alan Siaroff, The University of Lethbridge, CanadaSumming Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty."Democracies in Peril? is an essential contribution to the field. Keman successfully highlights the double problem facing the current model: it is being hollowed out internally by illiberalism and pressured externally by globalisation and the consequences of neoliberalism. By providing a robust theoretical grounding for these “demand-side” and “supply-side” pressures, the book offers vital insights for scholars, students, and practitioners seeking to navigate this global negative trend of democracy." Yuko Sato, Book Review in Acta Polit (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-026-00408-x