Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding

The Trump presidency generated concern about democratic backsliding and renewed interest in measuring the national democratic performance of the United States. However, the US has a decentralized form of federalism that administers democratic institutions at the state level. Using 51 indicators of e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American political science review Vol. 117; no. 3; pp. 967 - 984
Main Author GRUMBACH, JACOB M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.08.2023
Subjects
Authoritarianism
Brandeis, Louis D (1856-1941)
Change agents
Coalitions
Decentralization
Democracy
Demographic change
Economic incentives
Election results
Elections
Exhibits
Federalism
Ideology
Incentives
Individualized Instruction
Institutional Characteristics
Laboratories
Legislatures
Nationalist movements
Polarization
Political parties
Political science
Politics
Presidents
Public opinion
Racial Attitudes
Racial Identification
Redistricting
State elections
State government
State Policy
Trends
Voters
Voting
Voting rights
United States > US
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Summary:The Trump presidency generated concern about democratic backsliding and renewed interest in measuring the national democratic performance of the United States. However, the US has a decentralized form of federalism that administers democratic institutions at the state level. Using 51 indicators of electoral democracy from 2000 to 2018, I develop a measure of subnational democratic performance, the State Democracy Index. I then test theories of democratic expansion and backsliding based in party competition, polarization, demographic change, and the group interests of national party coalitions. Difference-in-differences results suggest a minimal role for all factors except Republican control of state government, which dramatically reduces states’ democratic performance during this period. This result calls into question theories focused on changes within states. The racial, geographic, and economic incentives of groups in national party coalitions may instead determine the health of democracy in the states.
ISSN:0003-0554
1537-5943
DOI:10.1017/S0003055422000934