Giovanni Capoccia is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Oxford.
His research centers on the conditions under which liberal democracies can successfully counter illiberalism.
His latest work is the edited volume “Back from the Brink. Countering Illiberalism in Liberal Democracies” (Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 59, no. 6, May 2026, co-edited with I. Mares).
Democratic decline resists any single explanation.
Rodrik’s trilemma, which holds that hyper-globalization, national sovereignty, and democracy cannot coexist, illuminates a real tension, yet the point of rupture falls in different places depending on a country’s level of economic development.
Above this domestic dynamic sits a mounting international pressure.
The authoritarian turn of the Trump administration has emboldened illiberal parties across many democracies, and the influence of China and Russia produces a comparable effect.
From this follows Capoccia’s central claim: the defense of democracy today rests less on institutional design than on the coordination of elites.
“The post-WWII bipolar order divided the globe into distinct spheres of influence. A possible scenario is that the contemporary international system may fracture along regional lines dominated by competing democratic and authoritarian powers.” — Giovanni Capoccia
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