Autocratization as Ethnocratization: Democratic Decline and Inequalities Between Ethnic Groups

For a long time scholars have been investigating the causes and consequences of democratic decline. This book innovates the field with a significant conceptual and empirical contribution that sheds light on an understudied aspect: how rising inequalities between ethnic groups endanger democracy. The book's theoretical framework elaborates what is called the "autocratization-as-ethnocratization" model, which seeks to explain how rising inequalities between ethnic groups are associated with democratic decline and breakdown, especially when anti-pluralist parties lead the government, opposition actors are divided, and multiple dimensions of inequality overlap; and also, how such autocratization processes further encourage the discrimination of vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities. The book empirically tests this model by integrating existing data and original measurements in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method analyses on a global scale, covering roughly 110 countries and 500 ethnic groups from the 1980s to the present (2024).`Autocratization as Ethnocratization' will be of great interest to students and scholars of comparative politics working on democracy, regime change, inequality, nationalism, ethnicity, and conflict. The book also reflects on how to break the negative feedback loop between increasing inter-ethnic inequality and autocratization, by promoting a more inclusive and resilient democracy for all.