Meanings
- uncountableGradual decline in the quality and robustness of democracy, especially following an initial rise in democracy.
But judges, law students, economists, human rights experts, and Mexico’s most important trading partners worry [the judicial reform] could lead to democratic backsliding – and macroeconomic turbulence – that the incoming President Claudia Sheinbaum will inherit when she takes office Oct. 1.
2024 August 29, Whitney Eulich, “Why Mexican judicial reform is causing a rift with the US”, in The Christian Science MonitorSynonyms: autocratization · Antonyms: democratization
Synonyms & antonyms
nounGradual decline in the quality and robustness of democracy, especially following an initial rise in democracy.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 民主倒退
- 民主倒退 (mínzhǔ dàotuì)Translations
Finnish demokratian taantuminen, autokratisoituminen
- demokratian taantuminenTranslations
- autokratisoituminenTranslations
German Rückschritte in der Demokratie
- Rückschritte in der DemokratieTranslations
Cite this entry
democratic backsliding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20backsliding
“democratic backsliding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20backsliding. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “democratic backsliding,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20backsliding.
Source: democratic backsliding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.