Introduction to Symposium: Human Rights and Democratic Backsliding

There has been a marked erosion of democratic principles and institutions over the last decade or so among democracies around the world. Documented trends exist in all facets of democracy: election validity, freedom of the press and expression, independence of institutions, rule of law, and individual freedoms and rights. Recent movement toward authoritarianism and away from prior, established democratic principles has drawn much notice from scholars and activists. This symposium brings together scholars of human rights, democracy/autocracy, institutions, and related areas to think through the various dimensions interlinked among human rights, democratic backsliding, and rule of law. The goal is to come away with a broader understanding of the relationship between democratic trends and human rights and rule of law outcomes. The symposium brings together scholars drawing on different methodological approaches and geographic regions to provide a clearer understanding of human rights and democratic backsliding.