Small liberal states during democratic decline: Speaking up or adjusting?
Short description
The world has entered a period of democratic decline. A less democratic world has critical consequences for peace, development and health. Against this background, the overarching aim of our project is to examine how small liberal states navigate a less liberal, more autocratic and hostile world. Do small liberal states speak up when liberal values are under threat, or are they adjusting and becoming more silent?
To reach this aim, we ask:
- What kinds of foreign policy responses are used by small liberal states against autocratic tendencies?
- Are different kinds of small liberal states using different kinds of foreign policy responses? If so, why are small liberal states acting differently against autocratization?
The project combines an aggregated analysis of how all small liberal states navigate in a world increasingly characterized by autocratization with in-depth case comparisons. In this first WP of the project, we study how small liberal states navigate autocratic tendencies in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) from the beginning of the third wave of autocratization in 1994 up until today. In the second WP, we conduct in-depth case comparisons between three small liberal states that relate differently to autocratization in order to explain their varying responses.
Project members
Ann-Marie Ekengren, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg. Principal Investigator.
Douglas Brommesson, Professor, Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University. Co-Principal Investigator.