University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation

How do democratic backsliders—states that retain aspects of democracy yet have become increasingly illiberal—behave in international institutions? Pressured between needing to preserve democratic legitimacy while minimizing external scrutiny of domestic illiberalism, these states engage in selective contestation: they continue to endorse the liberal international order (LIO), while systematically opposing its more intrusive institutions, particularly those promoting human rights and democratization. Using original data on voting and sponsorship patterns in the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (2006–23), we find backsliders align with autocracies, and against advanced Western democracies, on particularly sensitive and intrusive issues. These dynamics are confirmed by voting patterns in the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Text analysis of Universal Periodic Review reports reveals that backsliders’ rhetoric is converging to that of other backsliders and autocracies over time. These patterns indicate backsliders are reshaping the international landscape—leaving the West isolated and undermining core facets of the LIO.