Overview
Combines a theoretical perspective (i.e. Thucydidean Brink) with analysis of current cases of election meddling
Considers democratic vulnerabilities within the context of overall geopolitical dynamics
Bridges the current disconnect between election meddling and wider political/international theory
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (9 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
- Election meddling
- election security
- IR theory
- autocracy
- democracy
- digitalization
- globalization
- polarization
- partisanship
- Thucydides
- US presidential election
- European elections
- comparative elections
- cybersecurity
- democratic vulnerability
- Neo-classicism
- Russia
- China
- Artificial Intelligence
- Geopolitics
About this book
This book investigates complex regressive dynamics in contemporary Western democracies. They include not only severe polarization in domestic politics, but also efforts by external autocratic powers to co-opt the increasingly digitalized political processes in the West. The discussion on democratic vulnerability and regression has rarely been historically and theoretically reflective. The aim is to fill this relative void by drawing on classical sources to inform about the political anxieties and agitations of our present time as the Western world moves towards new critical elections. The key concept of the analysis, a Thucydidean brink, refers to a critical point where the attraction felt towards an outside geopolitical competitor becomes stronger than the political affinity felt towards one’s domestic political opponent. As political polarization, societal decomposition and the collusive tendencies grow in strength, political factions and political candidates in western societies can be(come) drawn to autocratic actors. Perhaps most alarmingly, the resulting nexus between democracies and autocracies can further intensify mutual regression and form downwards-sloping spirals that are not ultimately under any strategic control. This book draws from the experiences of recent elections in major Western democracies to illustrate the widening and deepening underlying regressive tendency.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Mika Aaltola is Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland, and Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, Estonia. His previous books include Sowing the Seeds of Sacred: Political Religion of American Era (2008), Western Spectacles of Governance and the Emergence of Humanitarian World Order (2009), Understanding the Politics of Pandemic Scares (2012), and Challenge of Global Commons and Flows for US Power (2016). His current research focuses on understanding the impact of current ideational, cognitive, and technological flows on global order and power.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling
Book Subtitle: The "Thucydidean Brink" in Regressive Geopolitical Competition
Authors: Mika Aaltola
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54602-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-54601-4Published: 29 August 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-54604-5Published: 29 August 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-54602-1Published: 28 August 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 198
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Electoral Politics, Democracy, International Relations Theory, Political Theory