The Democracy Disadvantage

Brian K. Grodsky

doi:10.5771/9781538192122

Summary

Populists are conventionally maligned as impediments to effective policymaking. They tend to undermine state institutions, exercise personalistic rule, and offer simplistic solutions to complex societal problems. But is populism always a hindrance to good governance? In this book, Brian Grodsky argues that the interplay between populism and regime type can upend expected levels of political responsiveness based on regime considerations alone. The result can be a reversal of the so-called “democratic advantage,” according to which public accountability in democratic regimes drives action beyond what is typically expected under authoritarianism. Grodsky explores the government policy response to the COVID19 pandemic in three populist states: the United States (a democracy); China (a non-democracy); and Russia (a hybrid regime). This insightful, exploratory analysis is essential reading for students and scholars of comparative politics, populism, and disaster management.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2024
ISBN-Print: 978-1-5381-9210-8
ISBN-Online: 978-1-5381-9212-2
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 292
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Preface No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
1. Populism and Regime No access
2. Pending Disaster No access
3. How Populists Transform the State No access
4. An Introduction to the Cases No access
5. Notes No access
1. Introducing Regimes No access
2. The Age of Populism No access
3. How Populists Can Change Regimes No access
4. Populism on the Darkest Night No access
5. Hybrid Regimes No access
6. Looking for Evidence of Populism’s Impact No access
7. In Search of the Evidence: Methodological Notes No access
8. Notes No access
1. China No access
2. Russia No access
3. United States No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Inside Xi’s Response: The (Populist) Authoritarian Advantage? No access
2. Leadership: Ruling from Afar No access
3. Xi’s Information War No access
4. Scapegoating: Accountability as a Safety Valve No access
5. Systemic Legitimacy: Technology, Mobilization, and the Benefits of Anti-Liberalism No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. Leadership and Delegation: A Delicate Balance No access
2. Propaganda and Scapegoats: Opportunities and Limits of Writing the Narrative in a Hybrid Regime No access
3. Systemic Legitimacy: Russian Success and the Decline of the West No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Democratic Populism: Leadership, Messaging, and Institutional Challenges in a Post-Factual World No access
2. The Power of Delegation: Trump’s Move Toward Extreme Decentralization No access
3. Scapegoating by a Democratic Populist No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. COVID Response Beyond 2020 No access
2. Beyond the United States, Russia, and China No access
3. Considering Additional Variables No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 223 - 280
Index No access Pages 281 - 290
About the Author No access Pages 291 - 292