Thinking Democratically: A Comprehensive Approach to Countering and Preventing Shrinking Space

While most countries’ constitution guarantees the separation of powers, in practice many actors
actively try controlling other state institutions as part of a strategy to shrink democratic space. The
judiciary is the prime target of such attacks on institutions’ independence, often through the
appointment of political figures and the dismissal of independent judges from judicial bodies such as
the Supreme Court, as in Georgia and Honduras. In countries like Zimbabwe where the judiciary
retains some level of independence, some judges may still uphold constitutionalism, but politically
sensitive cases are given to partial judges. Anti-corruption bodies may also be under attack for their
investigative powers, as in the case of Guatemala described above. When such a lack of separation
of powers takes root and all state institutions and political actors are complicit, as in El Salvador,
“different powers and institutions with the power to control or monitor, cover each other to evade
responsibility.” 57
All scoring runs from 0 to 1, with 1 representing the highest achievement.
Source: International IDEA, Global State of Democracy Indices. Available here.
In Europe, reforms that put the independence of the judiciary at risk have been one of the prime
strategies to close democratic space. In 2018, the Hungarian government passed a law that would
57
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (2017): El Salvador case study.
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