Category: Europe

Comparing transatlantic democratic distress (and prospects for renewal)

     

Liberal democracy is in crisis where it was long thought most securely established. In both Western Europe and the United States, polls suggest voters are losing faith in democratic institutions;… Read more »

Europe’s Problem: Illiberal Majoritarianism or Creeping Authoritarianism?

     

Countless news reports and analytical commentaries suggest that Europe is experiencing a rise of illiberal democracy. According to them, populist parties are espousing a highly majoritarian form of democracy, while… Read more »

How illiberalism took hold of central Europe

     

Leading Polish intellectuals are speaking out against the country’s judicial reforms. Fearing Poland’s democracy is at stake, they have urged the European Court of Justice to intervene, Deutsche-Welle reports: Former… Read more »

Slovenia poll indicative of Orban’s illiberal soft power?

     

As expected, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Slovenia with 25 percent of the vote. Taking a cue from Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, SDS employed anti-migration rhetoric… Read more »

Abandoning the transatlantic ideological battle against autocrats?

     

  Vladimir Putin’s attempt to restore Russia’s status as a great power rival to the United States lends new urgency to transatlantic relations, since Europe is the foremost theater in… Read more »

Democracies’ immune system against extremism is failing

     

Moral and cultural organisations must strive harder to rid the body politic of populist infection, in central Europe and elsewhere, says Tomáš Halík, a professor of sociology at Charles University in… Read more »

Mustafa Dzhemilev’s unwavering determination to defend Crimean Tatars’ rights

     

  Two traumatic events, 70 years apart, frame the life and struggles of Mustafa Dzhemilev, according to National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman. The first was Stalin’s forced deportation… Read more »

Resilience the key to winning normative war with Russia

     

Is Russia succeeding in destroying American democracy, as one Washington Post columnist suggests? Much of the global conversation around “fake news” has centered on the United States. Yet it increasingly… Read more »