Third wave of autocratization

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The third wave of autocratization is a scholarly proposition that countries worldwide have trended away from liberal democracy toward authoritarianism in the 21st century. The war on terror, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic were some of the most significant events in exacerbating autocratization. Since the 2010s, more countries have been autocratizing than democratizing. Unlike previous waves of autocratization, the third wave has resulted in significant autocratization in healthy liberal democracies. Modern autocrats have relied less on military coups to consolidate power and more on being legitimately elected to positions of power and eroding separation of powers from within, often weaponizing law to persecute political opponents. Waves of autocracy contrast with waves of democracy. The third wave of autocratization follows the third wave of democratization, which began in 1974. Experts disagree on exactly when the third wave of autocratization began (and when the corresponding...

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