Democratic Backsliding and Security Governance

Connections, the journal of the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC), invites submissions for a special issue dedicated to exploring the intricate relationship between political regime dynamics—particularly democratic backsliding—and security governance. This edition will focus on how shifts in political regimes, from democratic erosion to authoritarian resurgence, impact the governance and functioning of security institutions, both at the national and international levels.

The issue will consider a range of perspectives, including theoretical models, comparative studies, and case-based research, to deepen our understanding of the security implications of political regime shifts. As strategic competition between democratic and non-democratic regimes intensifies, and populist movements rise across Europe and beyond, this issue aims to bridge a significant gap in current research.

We encourage submissions on topics such as:

• Democratic backsliding and its implications for security governance
• Comparative security governance in democratic vs. authoritarian regimes
• The role of security institutions in sustaining or undermining democratic principles
• The implications of democratic backsliding on the security professionals
• Populism’s influence on national and regional security strategies
• Strategic competition between democracies and non-democracies and its implications on security governance
• Public administration styles under different political regimes and its interplay with security institutions during regime changes
• Lessons from historical and contemporary case studies on regime change and security governance
• Social perceptions of security and governance under different regime types
• The role of public administration in protecting democratic norms and rules against authoritarian tendencies
• Influence operations of authoritarian regimes and role of security governance in the democratic context

Connections is a peer-reviewed publication. Articles are unclassified, and readers can access the open-source articles from all over the world. The journal is published in English and then translated and published in Russian in order to increase its coverage and impact.

Articles should be original manuscripts in the range of 4,000 to 6,000 words, in the English language, written in a lucid and clear style for a target audience of informed defense and security affairs practitioners and academics.

Accepted articles will appear as 'previews' and will be published in vol. 23, no. 3 of the journal.

Additional author guidance is available on the Connections website at https://connections-qj.org/guide-authors

Submitted manuscripts will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality and relevance of the contributions. Articles will also undergo a military prepublication review, to prevent the publication of classified or sensitive information.

For inquiries and submission-related matters, please contact connections@marshallcenter.org

We look forward to receiving your proposed article.