In the dissertation I define the reasons behind and analyze the course of democratic deconsolidation in European states. With a modern approach of constitutional retrogression the authoritarian-populist parties have already managed to erode institutional bulwarks to different extents in Poland, Hungary, Turkey and Russia. Constitutional retrogression or a slow descent of democratic characteristics on a national level leads into a semi-authoritarian regime, that is somewhere between »diminished democracy« and »fully authoritarian«. Democratic deconsolidation is achieved by simultaneous attack on three key predispositions of constitutional democracy: fair and free elections, freedom of speech and assembly, and the rule of law.
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