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Party-Based Illiberalism in Europe: Why Are Illiberal Issues Gaining Ground in European Party Systems?

Publié le 6 novembre 2025 – Mis à jour le 17 novembre 2025

Séminaire axe Partis, Élections, Représentation with Leonardo Puleo


Abstract

Illiberalism has entered its hype phase, increasingly invoked to describe diverse challenges to democracy. Yet the debate remains fragmented between those who treat it as an ideology—often as elusive as liberalism itself—and those who restrict it to the practices of governing actors. Moreover, existing research focuses on a recurring set of “usual suspects,” primarily far-right parties, thereby overlooking potential diffusion among mainstream actors.
 
The project Party-Based Illiberalism (IllibEU) advances a parsimonious definition of party-based illiberalism as a combination of negative stances toward (i) minorities, (ii) civic and freedom rights, and (iii) the horizontal accountability of power—three core pillars of liberal democracy. Contemporary illiberalism may have distinct foci: the most visible manifestations clearly stem from the far right, yet others may be linked to different ideological orientations—for example, neoliberal legacies that compress civic and freedom rights. Consequently, IllibEU treats the ideological correlates of illiberalism as an eminently empirical question to be traced across time and space.
 
The project combines two analytical levels. First, a large-N design (12 countries) will map political parties’ illiberal supply by integrating manifesto data and expert-survey indicators (V-Party, CHES). This broad comparative exploration will test expectations regarding structural socio-economic factors as well as political triggers of contemporary illiberalism (e.g., competition with the far right, polarization, homogenization of political supply). It will also provide a cartography of contemporary illiberalism, enabling tests of spatial diffusion dynamics across Europe. In addition, the large-N analysis will disentangle country-specific peaks in the salience of illiberalism, offering crucial guidance for structuring a more fine-grained analysis.
 
The second component of the project consists of an in-depth exploration in four countries. It will examine the implementation of illiberal practices—and instances of resistance and opposition—in IT, DK, FR, and PL through the analysis of governmental decrees and parliamentary debates. The country-level focus will also enable an investigation of the diffusion of illiberal ideas not only within party systems but also across civil society, assessing the pervasiveness of illiberal think tanks, CSOs, and NGOs and their connections with institutional actors.
 
 

Meeting ID: 336 618 930 983 0

Passcode: S9ia96Np

 

Date(s)
Le 29 janvier 2026

12:30 - 14:00

Lieu(x)

BrIAS - Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies

USquare

Blvd Géneral Jacques 210, 1050 Ixelles