The Myth of Democratic Resilience – In Conversation with Jennifer Cyr and Nic Cheeseman

In our latest episode of the special series producedin partnership with the Journal of Democracy, we discuss the recent article co-authored by Jennifer Cyr, Nic Cheeseman and Matías Bianchi, entitled “The Myth of Democratic Resilience” (Journal of Democracy, Vol. 36, No.3, July 2025)

In recent years, populist political actors with authoritarian ambitions have been on the rise worldwide, challenging democratic systems from within. This has fueled debate about how resilient such systems are when anti-democratic actors hold power. The question of whether a secondTrump presidency would mark the end of U.S. democracy as we know it remains contested, while it is still uncertain whether Polish democracy can fully recover from the eight years of authoritarian rule under the PiS party. In thisconversation, Jennifer Cyr and Nic Cheeseman reflect on why projects of re-democratization after periods of authoritarian rule often fail in the long term. Drawing on data from the past thirty years, they argue that although democratic coalitions may return to power following autocratization, the vastmajority of these “democratic recoveries” have ultimately failed.