
Democracy cannot really function if it is not liberal. Interview with Cas Mudde
Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it relate to populism? Can illiberals be democrats at all? What are the policy implications of having illiberal politicians, especially of the radical right, in power in the EU? This interview explores these questions with Professor Cas Mudde. It covers various issues at the intersection of academic and policy research on populism, illiberalism, democracy, and the radical right. It discusses whether the growing body of literature on illiberalism addresses something that is fundamentally new on the global political agenda, how this literature relates to academic research on populism, and if illiberalism and democracy are reconcilable against the backdrop of a global trend of autocratization, which many scholars of democracy have noted, and which is often attributed to illiberal and populist leaders. Furthermore, the conversation sets out to understand how the recent election outcomes in Slovakia and Poland fit into the aforementioned trend and also predict what is in store for European democracies in the near future as illiberal actors of the radical right are readying themselves for the next European parliamentary elections in June 2024.
LATEST POSTS
To Free Everybody Through Inclusion – Leila Farsakh on Settler Colonial Violence and the Palestinian Path to Emancipation

We Need the Second European Rescue of the Nation-State

Central and Eastern Europe after the Polish Elections: In Conversation with Daniel Hegedüs

The Swarm That Didn’t Sting the Bourgeoisie–Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger Interpret the Populist Left

Discussing the History of the Present with Andreas Rödder – A Special Panel at the Review of Democracy

The Role of (EU) Competition Law in Defending the Rule of Law

MOST POPULAR




Sign up for our newsletter
Book Reviews
All Reviews
6.12.2023
We Need the Second European Rescue of the Nation-State
This is a rejoinder that ends the RevDem book symposium. You can read three book reviews by Peter J. Verovšek, Gábor Halmai and Petr Agha.

30.11.2023
The Swarm That Didn’t Sting the Bourgeoisie–Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger Interpret the Populist Left
In The Populist Moment, Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger analyze a political cycle, “the long 2010s,” when left populists – perhaps most notably Syriza in Greece, Podemos in [...]
Podcasts and interviews
All Interviews and Podcasts8.12.2023

Democracy cannot really function if it is not liberal. Interview with Cas Mudde
Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it [...]
7.12.2023

To Free Everybody Through Inclusion – Leila Farsakh on Settler Colonial Violence and the Palestinian Path to Emancipation
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Leila Farsakh explains what has been truly novel and devastating about the conflict in Palestine and Israel this fall; discusses how the [...]