Editing Democracy (section)

===Autocratization===
{{Further|Democratic backsliding by country}}
[[File:Putin's speech on Crocus City Hall attack.jpg|thumb|[[Russia under Vladimir Putin]] has turned into an [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] state]]
{{Excerpt|Democratic backsliding|only=paragraph|hat=no}}

[[Steven Levitsky]] says: “It's not up to voters to defend a democracy. That’s asking far, far too much of voters, to cast their ballot on the basis of some set of abstract principles or procedures. With the exception of a handful of cases, voters never, ever — in any society, in any culture — prioritize democracy over all else. Individual voters worry about much more mundane things, as is their right. It is up to élites and institutions to protect democracy — not voters.” <ref>
[[David Remnick]]: [https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/the-authors-of-how-democracies-die-on-the-new-democratic-minority ''The Authors of “How Democracies Die” on the New Democratic Minority - Two leading political scientists explain why voters failed to defend democracy: We never do.''], Podcast ''[[The New Yorker]] Radio Hour'', 15. November, 2024.<br />
Ursula Sommer discusses David Remnicks podcast with [[Steven Levitsky]] and [[Daniel Ziblatt]] in: [https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/articles/the-authors-of-how-democracies-die-on-the-new-democratic-minority ''The Authors of “How Democracies Die” on the New Democratic Minority''], November 15, 2024.</ref>

====Disruption====
Some democratic governments have experienced sudden [[state collapse]] and [[regime change]] to an undemocratic form of government. Domestic military coups or rebellions are the most common means by which democratic governments have been overthrown.<ref name="Siaroff">{{cite book|title=Comparing Political Regimes: A Thematic Introduction to Comparative Politics|author=Alan Siaroff|isbn=978-1-4426-0012-6|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2009|page=285}}</ref> (See [[List of coups and coup attempts by country]] and [[List of civil wars]].) Examples include the [[Spanish Civil War]], the [[Coup of 18 Brumaire]] that ended the [[French First Republic]], and the [[28 May 1926 coup d'état]] which ended the [[First Portuguese Republic]]. Some military coups are supported by foreign governments, such as the [[1954 Guatemalan coup d'état]] and the [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]]. Other types of a sudden end to democracy include:
* [[Invasion]], for example the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia]], and the fall of [[South Vietnam]].
* [[Self-coup]], in which the leader of the government extra-legally seizes all power or unlawfully extends the term in office. This can be done through:
** Suspension of the constitution by decree, such as with the [[1992 Peruvian coup d'état]]
** An "electoral self-coup" using [[election fraud]] to obtain re-election of a previously fairly elected official or political party. For example, in the [[1999 Ukrainian presidential election]], [[2003 Russian legislative election]], and [[2004 Russian presidential election]].<ref name="Siaroff" />
* Royal coup, in which a monarch not normally involved in government seizes all power. For example, the [[6 January Dictatorship]], begun in 1929 when King [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia]] dismissed parliament and started ruling by decree.<ref>{{cite web|work=The New York Times|author=[[Edwin Leland James]]|title=King of Yugoslavia Assumes All Power|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/01/07/archives/king-of-yugoslavia-assumes-all-power-in-midnight-coup-alexander.html|date=7 January 1929|access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref>

[[Democratic backsliding]] can end democracy in a gradual manner, by increasing emphasis on [[national security]] and eroding [[free and fair election]]s, [[freedom of expression]], [[independence of the judiciary]], [[rule of law]]. A famous example is the [[Enabling Act of 1933]], which lawfully ended democracy in [[Weimar Germany]] and marked the transition to [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pinfield|first1=Nick|title=A/AS Level History for AQA Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945 Student Book|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=98}}</ref>

Temporary or long-term [[political violence]] and government interference can prevent [[free and fair election]]s, which erode the democratic nature of governments. This has happened on a local level even in well-established democracies like the United States; for example, the [[Wilmington insurrection of 1898]] and African-American [[disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era]].