The question of what makes a democracy resilient to internal and external pressures has gained importance in recent years. The study Guardians of trust: foreign election interference and the institutional logics of democratic resilience among Swedish county governors, conducted by Hedvig Ördén, Elsa Isaksson and Martina Smedberg at PDRI, examines this question in relation to the threat of foreign election interference. Based on interviews with Swedish county governors and the Swedish Election Authority, the study shows that democratic resilience building to foreign electoral interference is guided by a strong “logic of trust”. Among interviewees, trust is seen both as a democratic strength and as a primary target of foreign actors. To safeguard trust, governors emphasise transparency, impartiality and standardised procedures. By defining electoral integrity as a key democratic resilience capacity, the study contributes key insights to the emerging literature on democratic resilience. It also advances the security studies literature on how to safeguard democracies against external threats.
Guardians of Trust: Foreign election interference and the institutional logics of democratic resilience among Swedish county governors
