Uneven Processes and Multiple Pathways

Abstract

This chapter provides a review of the uneven processes and multiple pathways associated with localized illiberal structures and practices in large federal democracies, addresses the comparative and analytical challenges arising from this approach, and points to some fruitful directions for further investigation.Here we develop a framework of three pathways toward subnational democratization that is inductively derived from the case studies in this volume. Our framework includes the possibility of top-down democratization from the center but also of bottom-up processes that originate at the subnational level.