Media, (De-)Democratisation and Neo-Authoritarianism in Third Wave Democracies

The South and the East among Eight Regions of Europe -- Media Embeddedness and Long-Term Trends

The first fifteen years of post-communist transformation in Central/Eastern Europe between 1989 and the mid-2000s was generally characterised by optimism regarding the chances of democratisation of political and media systems in the region. Democratization was largely seen as a one-way street where return to authoritarianism may not be possible. However, in the last decade we have been witnessing the de-consolidation of relatively new democratic systems and institutions. In the area of media, this involves several aspects including the growing political instrumentalisation of media, de-Westernization of media ownership and journalistic practice, and a major role of politically motivated media oligarchs. In general, the level of media freedom and pluralism is decreasing, and the influence of neo-authoritarianism is increasing in the region. In one country (Hungary since 2010), a hybrid regime was firmly established that regularly misuses its legitimation for authoritarian governance. In other countries, including Poland, governments put pressure on or openly challenge democratic political and media institutions and procedures in an attempt to weaken checks and balances on political power so they can introduce more authoritarian policies. What are the social, economic and political sources of growing authoritarianism in this formerly democratising region? And, using a longer-term historical perspective, how could Central/Eastern Europe compare to post-authoritarian democratisation in Southern Europe? What are the similarities and differences between the two regions in terms of the trends and outcomes of their political and media transformations? What were the recent effects of the 2006 financial crisis on the two regions and how these affected political and media transformation? How could de-consolidation processes be connected to the multiple challenges to the European Union, including the continuing budget crisis and related social and political problems in Greece as well as several other EU member states? At the same time, how did the global power shift from the West (the United States and the European Union) to the emerging BRICS, and particularly Russia and China, change the geopolitical and international economic context of third wave democratisation? What are the trends and prospects of the growing economic, political and media influence of Russia and China in these regions, and how do these relate to increasing neo-authoritarianism? And how could we as media analysts tackle the ongoing changes – perhaps in terms of detached, comparative historical-sociological analysis, or taking normative, critical, even activist positions?