Max Steuer
After the break-up of the governing coalition in Slovakia, President Čaputová appointed Slovakia's first cabinet composed of largely non-partisan experts. Max Steuer questions the labelling of this cabinet as ‘non-political’ or ‘technocratic’. While not hailing from general election results, it enjoys other sources of democratic legitimacy Read more
Andrea Pető
Andrea Pető is a gender scholar formerly based at Central European University in Budapest. Following crackdowns on gender studies by Viktor Orbán's government in Hungary, her institution has been forced into exile in Vienna. Here, Andrea breaks down illiberal leaders' specific strategies to undermine academic freedom, and offers suggestions for how academics, and citizens, can resist illiberal attacks on higher education Read more
Georgios Samaras
With the 21 May election in Greece fast approaching, Georgios Samaras examines the recent surge of ultranationalism in Greek politics. He argues that a process of normalisation of far-right practices is taking place, as echoed in other European countries, including Hungary and Italy Read more
Marcel Lewandowsky
Marcel Lewandowsky argues that much research on populism suffers from that a contextual blind spot: it overlooks the broad variety of illiberal attitudes of which populism is only one variant. Here, he calls for more research on this ‘invisible coalition’ of illiberal attitudes Read more
Laura Montecchio
'I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother'. So said Giorgia Meloni in a speech that has defined her career. Yet, write Laura Montecchio and Marianna Griffini, Meloni is far from a promoter of gender rights Read more
Cristina Chiva
Reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under attack across the world. So far, we have a good grasp of the causes and consequences of the backlash against gender equality. What we need to do now, argues Cristina Chiva, is to conceptualise and document democratic resilience against these trends Read more
Alessia Donà
After the Fratelli d’Italia victory in the 2022 Italian general election, a radical-right government formed, headed by party leader Giorgia Meloni. Alessia Donà explores gender issues in FdI ideology, and the party’s alliance with the Italian anti-gender movement. She finds the Meloni government is founded on reactionary Catholic extremism Read more
Rafael Labanino
Illiberal governments in Central and Eastern Europe are following a conscious strategy of hollowing out interest representation and stifling or co-opting civil society organisations. Rafael Labanino explains how the authoritarian playbook works – and how interest groups adapt or fight back Read more
We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. These will be set only if you accept.
▼
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
▼
Analytics Cookies
Google Analytics
We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work please see our Privacy Notice.
