1 National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29202/up/17/4
Received: 8 August 2025 / Accepted: 30 October 2025 / Published: 30 December 2025
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Abstract
Over the last three decades, scholarship on political regimes has moved from a relatively static dichotomy of «democracy versus authoritarianism» toward a more nuanced, discursive and gradational understanding. At the same time, empirical evidence from global indices documents a sustained «third wave of autocratization,» in which elected leaders erode democratic institutions incrementally rather than through classic coups. This article surveys key Anglophone and Ukrainian-language debates on how democracy and authoritarianism are conceptualized, measured and discursively constructed. It argues that contemporary research hinges on three interrelated shifts: from minimalist to multidimensional definitions of democracy and hybrid regimes; from institutional to discursive perspectives that treat «democracy» and «authoritarianism» as contested signifiers; and from linear transitology to the study of democratic backsliding and regime hybridity. Particular attention is paid to Ukrainian scholarship, which situates domestic regime transformations within global debates on defective democracies, competitive authoritarianism and the symbolic struggle between «democracy» and «autocracy» in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The review concludes by outlining methodological implications for studying discourses of democracy and authoritarianism using critical discourse analysis, frame analysis and mixed-methods designs.
Keywords: democracy; authoritarianism; hybrid regimes; discourse; democratic backsliding; Ukraine
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