Social Ruling and Solidarity in Challenged Democratic Systems

This book examines how democracies worldwide are being challenged by populism, polarization, and the erosion of minority belonging. Democracies around the world are under strain. Elections are contested, courts politicized, minorities scapegoated, and the social bonds that hold diverse societies together are fraying. Why is this happening, and what can be done?

Bringing together scholars from five continents, this book examines how social solidarity—the often-invisible glue of democratic life—is being made, unmade, and remade in the twenty-first century. Drawing on case studies from India, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and the United States, contributors trace two routes of democratic erosion: when institutions are designed in ways that concentrate power and exclude minorities, and when majority rule overrides the rights and belonging of those it should protect.

This is not a book of diagnoses alone. Each chapter pairs critical analysis with concrete remedies, ranging from electoral and constitutional reform to grassroots coalitions, interfaith alliances, and trauma-aware responses to political extremism. Together, the essays offer a toolkit for rebuilding democratic resilience in an age of polarization, populism, and contested belonging.

This book is essential reading for students, scholars, and practitioners in political science, sociology, comparative politics, democracy studies, and conflict resolution. It will also appeal to policymakers, civil society organizations, and anyone concerned with the future of democratic governance and social cohesion in diverse societies.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Peace Review.