Remembering the Disease behind the Symptoms – the Oligarchical Causes of Democratic Backsliding

Although scholarly and political debates on the causes of democratic backsliding have expanded rapidly over the last decade, they often remain fragmented and superficial, emphasizing symptoms (e.g. the rise of autocratic leaders, polarization) rather than addressing the underlying structural drivers, rendering the discovery of effective countermeasures exceedingly difficult. This paper argues from a structuralist perspective that the emergence of the phenomenon can be traced back to oligarchical interference into the political sphere as the root cause and metaphorical disease. This occurs both in the form of direct interventions by means such as lobbying, campaign financing, etc. and through indirect mechanisms eroding the democratic discourse and state power itself, especially by Big-Tech-companies yielding the power of advancing media and general information processing technology and (asset-management) companies absorbing former state functions. The paper concludes with a call to focus creative and financial resources on these root problems instead of the symptoms.