Democracy Under Siege: Georgia’s Autocratic Takeover
Following the October 2024 elections in which the Georgian Dream party claimed victory amid serious electoral irregularities, the Lab worked with Georgian civil society organizations to record intensifying authoritarian consolidation in the country.
The Lab’s report, “Democracy Under Siege: Georgia’s Autocratic Takeover,” documents how, under Bidzina Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream party, democratic institutions have been systematically eroded and repurposed to entrench a personalist regime. Over the last decade the Ivanishvili regime has tightened its grip on power through institutional capture, repressive laws, and coercive tactics.
The report proposes recommendations for countering Georgia’s autocratic takeover and calls for international sanctions against high-level Georgian Dream officials.