ABSTRACT
Although representative democracy enjoys overwhelming support from citizens all over the world – and is today seen as the only legitimate means to gain political power – we are often approached by reports recalling the debate about ‘the crisis of democracy’ in the 1970s (see Crozier et al. 1975; Hay 2007; Runciman 2013). The spread of democracy since the beginning of the ‘third wave of democracy’, which has made democracy a truly global phenomenon, seems to have lost momentum. Many countries that experienced breakdowns of dictatorships have not entered the family of liberal democracies but have rather transformed into corrupt ‘hybrid regimes’ where incumbents take advantage of a political playing field that is skewed in favour of the ruling party and where political rights and civil liberties are restricted.
