From Reform to Resistance: Yale World Fellow Warns of Democratic Backsliding in Georgia

Five years ago, Tamar Chugoshvili was drafting human rights policies and transparency laws as the first vice-speaker of the parliament of the country of Georgia. Today, as a Yale world fellow at the Jackson School of Global Affairs, she worries her country’s current government might punish her for speaking about its turn away from democracy.

“We are going through the classic democratic backsliding path,” Chugoshvili said. “Most of our opposition leaders are in jail. Civil society organizations have been crushed.”

Chugoshvili spoke last month at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, part of a series of fellows’ breakfasts welcoming visitors and new members of the campus community.

“We were honored to host Tamar Chugoshvilli,” said ISPS Director Alan Gerber, Sterling Professor of Political Science. “Her first-person account of her country’s struggles helps us to understand both the situation in Georgia and the erosion of liberal democratic societies more generally. We all learned a lot from her talk.”

Chugoshvili described Georgia as “a very beautiful place going through very challenging and difficult times right now.” She considers her fellowship at Yale as “a chance to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.”

As a former Soviet republic, Georgia fell into disarray after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We turned into a completely failed state,” Chugoshvili said. “My parents lined up to get a single loaf of bread at 5:00 a.m., no electricity.”

But in the early 2000s, Georgia began a remarkable transformation, Chugoshvili said. With strong support from the United Statues and the European Union, Georgia implemented sweeping reforms. The new government passed anti-corruption measures, dismantled organized crime, and built institutions including a civil service staffed by “younger people who were well-educated, non-corrupt, and motivated.”

“We transformed from being one of the most corrupt countries into one of the least corrupt,” she said. “It was a time of real excitement. When as a young person you have a chance to create something new.”

But in recent years, that progress has reversed, she said, and this became particularly visible after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Georgian government began capturing institutions, undermining the judiciary, cracking down on dissent, and targeting opposition and non-governmental organizations with propaganda. Chugoshvili said the government conducts surveillance and big data analysis to identify and pressure citizens and spread disinformation.

“Georgia still has some independent media and free internet,” Chugoshvili said. “But opposition and civil society are at the weakest point we have had.”

She cited the closure of USAID and other American institutions, leaving Georgia without its traditional Western partners.

“U.S. presence was very strong and suddenly disappeared,” Chugoshvili said. “For someone who worked day and night to create human rights policies, it’s really difficult to digest.”

Meanwhile Georgia signed a strategic partnership with China and faces covert Russian influence.

“Government realized there is no one to hold them accountable,” she said. “And they started grabbing everything.”

Chugoshvili said pro-democracy Georgians should have invested more effort in domestic campaigning rather than trying to mobilize international support.

“The opposition believed change comes from Washington or Brussels, not from Georgians,” she said. “They spent time complaining abroad instead of talking to people at home.”

In addition, she said the Soviet legacy and a generational divide has weakened civic culture.

“We were coming from a Soviet past that taught people you do not matter, that power lies with elites,” she said. “Older generations struggle to believe power lies with them. Younger generations cannot imagine having a master.”

Chugoshvili urged a shift toward grassroots engagement, using technology to counter disinformation and organize supporters, while finding new funding sources for civil society as foreign aid dries up.

“Go from city to city, village to village,” she said. “Knock every door.”

She called for establishing a new, more independent national identity.

“We’ve always searched for a big friend to protect us,” she said. “Now we have to do this ourselves.”

And she stressed the need for better messaging.

“West vs. Russia is not enough,” she said. “People want a fair system, no stealing, justice, and opportunities for young people.”

Despite challenges, Chugoshvili expressed hope.

“Our history is rising from the ruins,” she said. “We’ve done that many times, and we’ll do that again.”