ABSTRACT
The world is facing a new wave of autocratization. The coronavirus pandemic has further accelerated this global democratic backsliding. Though each country has its local history, some of the social foundations of illiberalism are similar worldwide. These divergent and convergent social requisites of illiberalism are the subject of this chapter. After clarifying the relationship between the concepts of “populism,” “illiberalism,” and “democratic backsliding,” the chapter reviews the empirical literature related to these phenomena. Explanations of illiberalism cannot be reduced to mono-causal theories. Dominant cultural and overly agent-centric approaches have a proclivity to downplay the role of economic-structural tensions. The chapter shows how political-economic approaches to illiberalism in East-Central Europe can offer novel insights into the social foundations of illiberalism. The chapter concludes by arguing for complex, interdisciplinary approaches that refuse to pit culture, the economy, and politics against each other as separate variables. These factors act in concert through people’s everyday perceptions of economic change and political entrepreneurs’ manoeuvres to maintain and forge class coalitions and shape institutions.
