Luca Tomini

Consociationalism as opportunity structure: Hezbollah and the institutionalization of competitive authoritarianism

Contemporary research on autocratization largely explains democratic erosion as the outcome of elected incumbents who gradually undermine constraints, competition, and civil liberties. This article advances a theory of hybrid-actor autocratization, showing how a hybrid armed part...

A risky business: navigating autocratization through ideological legitimation claims

Abstract Autocratization typically results from measures aiming at seizing, strengthening, and consolidating political power. However, it is not without risks: it may produce adverse reactions from multiple actors and possibly lead to the fall of its perpetrators from power. What...

The EU’s democracy support pendulum: democracy promotion, democracy protection, and geostrategic pragmatism in the EU neighbourhood

In recent years, the European Union (EU) has faced mounting challenges in promoting and safeguarding democracy in its neighbourhood, as autocratisation trends, entangled with intensifying geopolitical competition, have progressively reshaped the conditions under which EU democrac...