Introduction: Democracy Contested – Unpacking Political Action

This article draws on original contributions by scholars of democracy from around the world – from the global North and the global South – to unpack contemporary dynamics and processes of autocratisation, resistance, and democratisation, and to centre the political action of citizens as voters and as mobilisers within these. The articles in this issue of the IDS Bulletin cover a diverse range of countries, from some of the most dramatic regressors of recent years, to places that have seen major increases in support for far-right leaders and parties, and regions where citizens are actively pushing back against decades of autocratising rule. This article looks across these to ask whether recent autocratisation patterns are explained in part by the shifting political calculus of voters around the world, and what patterns of resistance are emerging in contemporary political contestation that are pushing back against the backslide.