Liberal cities in autocratizing states: Scholarly pathways and a research agenda

Abstract

This article explores the growing phenomenon of liberal cities operating within increasingly autocratizing national regimes. While tensions between cities and states are not new, recent developments in countries such as Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Israel, and the USA highlight a distinct and urgent dynamic: urban resistance in the face of democratic backsliding and autocratization. Drawing on emerging scholarship from urban studies, political science, and geography, the article synthesizes three burgeoning strands of literature: (1) city-level activism contesting autocratizing national policies, (2) the transnational engagement of cities through city diplomacy and alliances, and (3) state-led constraints on urban autonomy. These studies reveal unique patterns and settings shaped by the global autocratic turn, which go beyond more established frictions between cities and states. Through this scholarship, the article examines how municipalities governed by progressive actors respond to central state pressures, leveraging legal, financial, symbolic, and diplomatic tools to assert autonomy and uphold liberal-democratic values. Case studies such as Istanbul, Budapest, and the Pact of Free Cities illustrate how cities act as democratic enclaves, navigating structural constraints to mobilize resistance. By identifying research gaps and proposing new avenues for investigation, this article advances a research agenda that re-centers cities as critical actors in contemporary struggles for democracy.

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