IDS: New global research initiative to identify ways to counter rise of autocrats

Power and Popular Politics Cluster Lead

The three-year project, called “Deconstruct and Resist Autocratic Appeal to Reinvigorate Democracy” (DeAppeal) led by the Centro de Estudos Socials (CES) at Portugal’s Universidade de Coimbra, will respond to the lack of understanding around why people vote for autocrats.

Democracy levels around the world have now slumped to where they were in 1978, and many citizens feel discontent over lack of basic needs and services, and government corruption.

Marjoke Oosterom, Research Fellow and DeAppeal project lead at IDS, said:

“All around the world, people are voting for leaders who seek to weaken democracy, and we don’t fully understand why this is. This project seeks to help us develop new ways to resist autocrats and reimagine a more people-centred form of democracy.”

Cristiano Gianolla, overall lead of DeAppeal at CES, emphasised the project’s novel approach:

“By addressing how emotions, narratives and material resources are mobilised in autocratic and democratic politics, DeAppeal will generate knowledge on the conditions under which autocratic projects become appealing to citizens, and how these dynamics can be effectively countered or prevented.”

Providing the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary programme to explain why autocratic projects gain traction, the project brings together a consortium of 11 organisations working across academia and civil society.

Researchers from sociology, political science, psychology, communication studies, law, and history will combine their perspectives to examine 16 historical and contemporary contexts (Brazil, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zimbabwe) in order to map how authoritarianism expands and the forms of resistance that emerge against it.

IDS will lead areas of work on youth, and gender, as well as providing expertise on using creative research methods in Arts-based Labs to co-produce new democratic narratives and practices with civil society actors across Europe and the global South.

The project will enable IDS to build on its expertise in active citizenship, activism and democracy, at a time when democracy is in retreat around the world and citizens are becoming increasingly disillusioned with democratic approaches. DeAppeal reflects IDS’ ambition to address democratic backsliding and resistance in a truly global perspective.

Read more on our latest work on democracy

The full list of consortium members for the new project is:

• CES – Centro de Estudos Sociais, Portugal (Consortium Coordinator)
• IDS – Institute of Development Studies, UK
• CEBRAP – Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, Brazil (Associated Partner)
• UDEUSTO – Universidad de la Iglesia de Deusto Entidad Religiosa, Spain
• UH – Helsingin Yliopisto, Finland
• UPF – Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Spain
• IPU – International Psychoanalytic University Berlin GGMBH, Germany
• UNIWARSAW – Uniwersytet Warszawski, Poland
• HIVOS – Stichting Hivos (Humanistisch Instituut Voor Ontwikkelings Samenwerking), Netherlands & Zimbabwe
• MEDIAWISE – Asociatia Mediawise Society, Romania
• IstanPol – Istanbul Politik Arastirmalar Dernegi, Turkey