Special issue of Policy Studies, 2026 (Volume 47, Issue 5).

As the world is going through an era of ‘democratic backsliding’, there has been an increased focus on the relationship between democracy and public administration (see: Bauer et al. 2021; Lotta et al. 2024).  However, much of the existing focus is through the lens of how populists undermine liberal democracy.

Important as that is, this volume:

• considers the relationship between democracy, democratic backsliding and public administration though different conceptions of democracy
• develops the real democracy approach
• provides a global perspective using cross-national data and country cases from many continents.

The introduction argues that whereas minimalist approaches tend to see public administration as important to enacting decisions derived democratically, the maximalist real democracy approach sees public administration as a component of democracy itself.

The volume will also be published as an edited book with Routledge.

The volume will soon appear as a book with Routledge. Details to follow…

Special Issue Contents

Introduction and Conceptual Framework

‘Democracy, Public Administration and Democratic Backsliding’, Toby S. James (University of East Anglia, UK)

Comparative Evidence

• ‘Merit and impartiality in public administration: the effect of democratic backsliding through participation and contestation’ David Ibañez and Ricardo A. Bello-Gómez (Rutgers University, USA)
• ‘Expert knowledge and policymaking in authoritarian contexts: a systematic review’ Caroline Schlaufer (University of Bern, Switzerland) and Tatiana Chalaya (University of Bremen, Germany)

Evidence from Africa

• The Wilting Jasmine: The Erosion of Public Administration and Democratic Backsliding in Tunisia’, Michael J. Schumacher (Loyola University Chicago, USA) and Addison K. Emig (Vanderbilt University, USA).
• ‘Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration: The Experience of Ghana,‘ Emmanuel Yeboah-Assiamah, Philip Asare Baidoo and Kwame Asamoah (University of Ghana, Ghana)
• ‘Democratic Backsliding through Bureaucratic Capture: State Power and Institutional Mimicry in Nigeria‘ Omonye Omoigberale (University of Babcock, Nigeria).

Evidence from the Americas

• ‘Resisting the tide: the role of organizational routines in mitigating policy dismantling’, Fernando Nieto-Morales (El Colegio de México, Mexico) and Guillermo M. Cejudo (CIDE, Mexico City, Mexico)
• ‘Narratives of Democratic Backsliding: Media Coverage of Illiberal Administrative Policies’, Luis David Ramirez Benitez, (University of Illinois Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, USA)
• ‘Eroding Democracy and Public Administration Capacities Through Overstretching the Armed Forces. Evidence of the Federal Police Dismantling in Mexico’ Gerardo Bonilla-Alguera (Instituto Mora, Mexico), Daira Arana-Aguilar (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) and Sergio Padilla-Oñate (University of Guadalajara, Mexico)
• ‘Bureaucrats’ Willingness to Resist Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in the Brazilian Federal Government,‘ José Renato Fragoso Lobo, Maiara Marinho, Alketa Peci and João V. Guedes-Neto (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil).
• Presidential Threats and Bureaucrats’ Support for Democracy in Brazil, Celeste Beesley (Brigham Young University, USA), Darren Hawkins (Brigham Young University, USA), Mona Lyne (University of Missouri – Kansas, USA), Scott Morgenstern (University of Pittsburgh), Daniel Nielson (University of Texas at Austin).
• Democratic backsliding in Honduras and MACCIH´s effects (2016-2021)‘ Miguel Gomis (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia).

Evidence from Asia

• ‘A Coalitional Perspective on Democratic Backsliding: Elite Coalitions and the Bureaucracy in Turkey’ Dr. Mehmet Kerem Coban (SOAS, University of London & Kadir Has University, Istanbul), Prof. Kutsal Yesilkagit (Leiden University), Dr. Ozsel Beleli (University College London)
• ‘Democratic backsliding and public administration in Pakistan’s hybrid regime: a balance of power approach’ Sameen A. Mohsin Ali (University of Birmingham, UK)
• ‘Populism, public administration and democratic backsliding: The Indian experience’ St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, India
• ‘From people’s champion to power consolidator: Examining Jokowi’s role in Indonesia’s democratic backsliding’ Martin Petlach and Veronika Říčanová (Mendel University, Czech Republic).
• Public Administration under Competitive Authoritarianism: Impact of Democratic Backsliding on Public Administration in Sri Lanka’, Ramesh Ramasamy; Ranjith Dickwella; Mohammad Meeran Ijhas (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka)
• ‘Administrative Resilience and Democratic Backsliding in Crisis Governance: Comparative Lessons from Wuhan and Shanghai during COVID-19’, Jie Xiao (South China University of Technology, China), Wenzheng Li (Shandong University, China) and Jian Xu (South China University of Technology, China)

Evidence from Europe

• ‘Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration: The Experience of UK’ Sean Kippin (Stirling University, UK)
• ‘Democratic Backsliding: Populism and Independent Regulatory Authorities in Italy During the Conte and Meloni Governments’ Paola Coletti (Universitas Mercatorum, Italy)
• ‘The (worst) laws of the land: The concept of legislative basket cases, legislative backsliding and public administration in Central-Eastern Europe’, Rebeka Kiss (Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest, Hungary) and Miklós Sebők (Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary)
• ‘Understanding de-institutionalisation in a democracy: media perspectives on the legitimacy of the state committees in Finland, 1960–1994‘ Kati Katajisto and Johanna Rainio-Niemi (University of Helsinki, Finland).
• ‘Eroded Decisiveness of Public Administration? The Political Use of Law and Legal Knowledge After Democratic Backsliding – Case of Poland’ Dr Sonia Horonziak (Institute of Public Affairs, University of Warsaw, Poland), Dr Marcin Kaim (Polish Academy of Sciences – Scientific Centre in Vienna, Austria)

Conclusions

• Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration: Lessons for Theory and Practice, Toby S. James University of East Anglia

Bibliography

Bauer, Michael W, B Guy Peters, Jon Pierre, Kutsal Yesilkagit, and Stefan Becker. 2021. Democratic backsliding and public administration: How populists in government transform state bureaucracies (Cambridge University Press).

Lotta, Gabriela Spanghero, Barbara Piotrowska, and Nadine Raaphorst. 2024. “Introduction “street-level bureaucracy, populism, and democratic backsliding”.”  Governance 37 (S1):5-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12906.