Democracy Fatigue

In the last two decades, democracy all over the world has deteriorated significantly. Parallel to this, new populist forces have appeared in the political realm and have been leading this democratic backsliding through legal reforms. The robust divide between Eastern and Western Europe in this respect is the focus of this collection of essays.
The volume characterizes the 2008-2012 economic crisis as the main reason behind the success of the populist parties, and the rise of cultural backlash against liberal values. In turn, European governments' responses to the crisis—mainly austerity measures demanded by IMF and the EU—explain desenchantment with the European Union. These policies made the wider public feel that they were being left out of politics, which was contrasted by populist parties promising to return the power to the people.
The contributors argue that polarization of the electorate can set in motion a radicalization that only strengthens authoritarians at the expense of democrats. They also demonstrate that Eastern and Western Europe differ in their attitude to the lowering quality of democracy. The studies look into how satisfied people are with the political changes they witness. The authors argue that seemingly more authoritarian attitudes in the East explain why people feel more satisfied with a defective democracy that empowers populist-authoritarian political actors that they support.