ABSTRACT
Consider this chapter as a roadmap of the story to be told in this book. First, we discuss the concepts of what is meant by backsliding of democraticness and variations of de-democratisation. We continue by elaborating on what is considered as “democraticness” and how it can be analysed by means of different levels. This sets the “scene” for the journey towards understanding and explaining how democracy has evolved over time in various forms. The chapter ends by making the reader familiar with the type of approach of theory and method that is employed. In the fourth section, we elaborate on our epistemological position. We include a Box at the end of this chapter which contains Guidelines to read this book and a Glossary of core terms that are used throughout the book.
