The Chaire de recherche sur la démocratie et les institutions parlementaires with support of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship presents :

Perspectives on democratic backsliding
Dietlind Stolle (McGill)

When : April 9, 2026 , 12 – 1:15 p.m.
Ou : U. Laval, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck, salle DKN 3244, 1030 Av. des Sciences Humaines, Québec, QC G1V 0A6

ZOOM : https://ulaval.zoom.us/j/65807784518?pwd=VCBNLa8UapR6vjeaavOOKC1G83rDV0.1#success
Meeting ID : 658 0778 4518
Passcode : 417729

Warning signs are mounting: in many Western democracies, younger cohorts express weaker attachment to democratic norms. This talk advances a unified account of the micro-foundations of democratic deconsolidation, showing how citizens’ democratic commitments become conditional under pressure. I argue that perceived threats—whether rooted in acute security crises or in status- based anxieties — can heighten demand for protection and increase tolerance for violations of democratic rules. At the same time, a]ective polarization does not automatically erode democratic commitments; its impact depends on specific political configurations that make executive power expansion appear instrumentally attractive. Across these dynamics, democratic backsliding emerges less as a sudden institutional rupture than as a gradual reweighting of citizen priorities away from procedural constraints and toward protection, competition, and authority.