The Georgian Dream movement came to power over a decade ago. It initially claimed to want to uphold the European integration policies of its predecessor, but has slowly moved towards a more sovereign discourse. Over time, Georgian Dream has increasingly fueled affective political polarization, and now accuses its pro-European critics of wanting to drag Georgia into a war with Russia. It has furthermore vehemently defended adopting controversial anti-democratic legislation such as the so called ‘foreign agents’ law.

In this latest episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, Lia Tsuladze discusses how Georgia Dream’s discourse and actions have evolved over the years to hollow out Georgia’s fragile democracy, and how this is now impacting the current electoral environment. She talks about the role of CSOs and the media, as well as her hopes for the future.

See Review of Democracy Podcast

Dr Lia Tsuladze is the Executive Director of the Centre for Social Sciences in Tbilisi, and an Associate Professor of Sociology at Tbilisi State University, Georgia. Her research focuses on political, media, and popular discourses on Europeanization.