The Authoritarian Playbook Explained

In this episode of War & Peace , Olga and Elissa talk with political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann to unpack how aspiring authoritarian leaders transform democracies into autocratic governments and whether democratic erosion in Western democracies is, in fact, a trend. They discuss how such leaders concentrate power and systematically weaken democratic institutions. They also explore the role of ideology in authoritarian systems and how these regimes differ from totalitarian forms of governance. Finally, they delve into how democratic resilience can be fostered and what can be done to reverse democratic backsliding. For more, check out our Europe and Central Asia regional page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to The Authoritarian Playbook Explained online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Authoritarian Playbook Explained is an episode from War & Peace by International Crisis Group.

This episode is 36:40 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2025.

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