Democratic Backsliding: Comparative Reflections on the American Experience.

This article examines democratic backsliding—the gradual weakening of democracy by elected leaders—and argues for prioritizing institutional remedies over citizen-focused solutions to address this phenomenon. While Sara Wallace Goodman's work emphasizes strengthening democratic citizenship to counter backsliding, the article highlights how structural flaws in political systems, such as the U.S. Electoral College and partisan gerrymandering, enable democratic erosion despite active citizen engagement. Comparing the United States and Brazil, the article illustrates how Brazil's modernized democratic institutions helped it better withstand backsliding under Jair Bolsonaro, unlike the U.S. experience under Donald Trump. Ultimately, the article contends that robust democratic infrastructure, accountability mechanisms, and modernization of political institutions are essential to arrest backsliding and sustain democracy.