Kellogg Faculty Fellow Michael Coppedge posted a blog titled “Democracy and Autocracy Are Contagious” in the International Forum for Democratic Studies’ blog Power 3.0. Using data from the Varieties of Democracy Project, Coppedge explains how a country’s system of democracy or autocracy can impact and influence other neighboring countries.
“Democracies get by with a little help from their democratic friends and neighbors – and they are more likely to slide into autocracy where their neighbors are undemocratic,” he states.