By Ansgar Gessner, Chris Dayson, Ben Gidron, Mark Sidel, Ingrid Srinath and Rupert Graf Strachwitz
This publication stems from the roundtable discussion entitled ‘Backsliding Democracy: The Crisis for Civil Society and Philanthropy in Comparative Perspective’, which took place in July 2026 as part of the 17th international conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) in Lisbon. It was Mark Sidel’s idea to bring together a group of international experts – Chris Dayson (UK), Ben Gidron (Israel), Rupert Strachwitz (Germany), Ingrid Srinath (India) and himself (US), to share their insights into how threats to civil society and philanthropy are emerging and unfolding in their respective countries. Ansgar Gessner chaired the roundtable discussion.
What the experts highlighted and what this paper emphasises is that we are witnessing an international phenomenon of democratic backsliding, which complements and amplifies national developments — which are also, for the most part, characterised by backsliding — that can be explained by local social, economic or political factors. As if following the same playbook, authoritarian and conservative governments around the world are reversing democratic commitments, undermining democratic processes, dismantling social services and international development aid, politicising the judiciary and investigative agencies, threatening changes to tax status or funding, and threatening the pillars that have made civil society and philanthropy significant forces for strong, resilient democracies – from the United States to India, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom and beyond.
Each author of this edited working paper outlines and analyses how some of these threats have been playing out in their respective countries and regions. Whilst, naturally, further country-specific analyses would be desirable to paint a truly global picture of the phenomenon of democratic backsliding, this working paper sheds some light on the global scale of the issue.
Ansgar Gessner & Mark Sidel
Berlin and New York, and in October 2026
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