WESTERN EUROPE

Shifting away from democracy increases the risk of interstate and intrastate conflict. However, the relationship between autocratization and conflict remains complex and not fully understood. Although many studies explore the impact of democratization on conflict, the effects of autocratization remain largely uncharted. Three factors contribute to this knowledge gap: conceptual ambiguities, unclear causal directions, and underexplored causal mechanisms. To address these challenges, we propose a novel typology for diverse forms of political contestation, emphasizing the need for further conceptual and empirical work to capture dynamic conflicts. In this chapter, we highlight the mutually reinforcing effects of regime change and political conflict while emphasizing the importance of considering different types of political conflict. We argue that future research should focus on tracing the dynamic processes that connect autocratization episodes with various political conflicts. Finally, we advocate shifting the research focus from armed conflict to other forms of conflict to gain deeper insights into their relationship with autocratization.