Authors

Sergiu Gherghina¹; Petar Bankov¹;  ¹ University of Glasgow, UK

Discussion

Various types of accountability help stopping democratic backsliding in different countries around the world. It is unclear what happens in political settings in which the usual accountability elements are absent. This paper aims to explain how backsliding was stopped in 2021 in Bulgaria, which is an illustrative example of such a political setting. Our qualitative analysis uses data from media reports and public statements from parliamentary parties in 2021. Our findings illustrate that the collaboration of political parties and their agreement to isolate GERB through a cordon sanitaire prevented its return to power, effectively ending several years of backsliding. The novelty of our analysis lies in identifying a particular way of addressing democratic backsliding and in presenting an alternative strategy to those in the literature.