The Rise of Illiberal Democracies: A Criminological and Socio-legal Analysis

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Although most of the recent research on illiberal politics in Eastern Europe focused on Poland and Hungary, we have seen how illiberal trends emerged in many other countries, including Slovenia. In 2020-2022, we witnessed in Slovenia how an illiberal government adopted measures to stifle public news media organizations, weaken the judiciary and public prosecutors, limit the role of non-governmental organizations, and attack an anti-government protest movement. Despite the persistent presence of illiberalism in Slovenia, there has been limited research, particularly in the fields of criminology and law, on the specific features of illiberal politics in Slovenia. To fill this gap, this project aims to bring together researchers from different disciplines (e.g., criminology, law, sociology, philosophy) to provide an interdisciplinary analysis of the domestic causes for the rise of illiberalism and the impact of illiberal measures on Slovenian society. To place the emergence of illiberal politics in Slovenia within a broader context, we will compare the situation in Slovenia with other countries in Eastern Europe and beyond.

To provide a comprehensive understanding of the rise of illiberalism in Slovenia and other countries, we have identified, for this research, three key issues. Firstly, the project will explore illiberal measures adopted to centralize and consolidate power in the executive branch. We will examine how the centralization of power is achieved – on the constitutional level – through constitutional change by writing new constitutions or including amendments into existing ones. The research will also examine how the centralization of power is achieved – on the sub-constitutional level – through tactics such as “colonization,” duplication, and evasion. Secondly, we will focus on illiberal measures aimed at marginalizing people perceived as “internal enemies” by illiberal governments. This part of the research will provide a detailed mapping of groups labelled as “internal enemies” (e.g., critical journalists, human rights activists) and examine the methods used by illiberal governments to suppress them (e.g., criminalization, economic sanctions, and surveillance). And thirdly, the project will fill the gap in research on how to oppose illiberal governments. The project will focus on the following three tactics of resistance: non-formal tactics, that is, grassroots activities for movement building, which include organizing protests and raising awareness among the public; quasi-formal tactics (e.g., dispute resolution) that do not use formal channels of the state, but have the potential to generate lawlike consequences; and formal tactics, that is, the use of courts as sites of political contestation to expose illiberal practices.

Project no: J5-50174

Period: 1.10.2023 – 30.9.2026

Research group: SICRIS

Funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) (url: http://www.aris-rs.si/en/)