Brussels Democracy Papers: Revitalising Democracies

Illiberal right-wing parties have enjoyed many electoral successes all over Europe in recent years. Despite their advances, progressive actors are still often caught by surprise and continue to struggle to understand the drivers of this success and develop effective responses.

Revitalising European democracies

To generate new ideas and better understand the current challenges facing liberal and social democracies, our Brussels Democracy Dialogue brings together experts from politics, academia, trade unions and civil society each year. Under the headline “Time to reset! How to revitalise European democracies?”, we discussed the underlying issues, how to push back against the far right, as well as ways to convince people (again) that civil liberties and an independent judiciary are essential elements in functioning democracies. 

Like in previous years, a series of policy papers emerged from these discussions: The Brussels Democracy Papers. 

Access the publications below. 

You can find the previous series "How to transition to sustainable democracies"?" here.

Far-right parties are advancing across Europe. Their electoral successes have sparked extensive debate among progressive actors. Explanations are often sought in public discontent with immigration, social status anxiety, and perceptions of cultural threat. 

Tarik Abou-Chadi argues that this is only one side of the coin, however. Instead, greater attention must be paid to the response of established parties, who, inadvertently, feed a vicious cycle that accelerates the advance of the radical right.

The EU' Democracy Shield is supposed to strengthen and sustain democratic resilience across Europe. In reality, however, it fails to do what its name suggests, analyses Alice Stollmeyer in this policy brief. 

She identifies three negative trends: foreign threats from authoritarian regimes such as cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and threats of military force; domestic threats in the form of polarisation and radicalisation; and technological threats from tech companies under the banner of “innovation”. It is the convergence of these three threats that seriously jeopardises European democracy.

Democratic backsliding follows recognisable patterns – as does democratic resistance. In this paper, political scientist Rachel Beatty Riedl draws on a dataset covering thousands of attacks on democracy across 28 countries since 2000 to identify patterns of democratic erosion and the most effective ways to resist them.

With democratic institutions across the continent and beyond being increasingly under strain, the support and engagement of citizens is more vital than ever. Or, as Julian Plottka quotes Friedrich Ebert himself: “Democracy needs democrats”. Citizens who participate, trust institutions and are willing to defend them. 

To achieve this, the author identifies four sets of recommendations based on the discussions at the Brussels Democracy Dialogue 2025.