Summer School on ‘Democratic backsliding and political conflict'

This Summer School is organised by the European Governance and Politics Programme (EGPP) of the European University Institute at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies in collaboration with Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Scuola Normale Superiore. The initiative is funded by the PNRR through the MERITA, the network for talent project, and by the EUI Widening Europe Programme.

The Summer School will offer a thought provoking forum for young scholars to examine democratic erosion (and its resistance) across regions, through diverse disciplinary and methodological lenses. With growing scholarly attention in the field of political participation focused on democratic backsliding and political actors (also called the ‘entrepreneurs’ of regression), this School encourages critical reflection on both theoretical and methodological approaches. Another research area high on scholarly agenda and of interest to this School include public opinion, electoral, and party politics studies, which increasingly examine the norms, values, and attitudes that underpin regressive trends in society, political actors, and policymaking. Finally, the Internet and social media play a key role, shaping and mediating various related processes.

The Summer Schools aims to explore the contextual, meso-organisational and micro-level attitudinal and value characteristics that accompany and sustain democratic backsliding in online campaigning, contentious politics, political participation and elections. In order to do that, participants in the EGPP Summer School will engage with the following key themes: social movements and collective actors, identities and networks on the regressive side; the intersection of media and democratic backsliding, focusing on how the erosion of press freedoms plays a crucial role in undermining democratic institutions; comparative analyses of Eastern European democracies, including the role of civil society and grassroots movements in resisting democratic decline; how political elites and state institutions may contribute to or combat backsliding; the impact of European Union policies on democratic resilience, examining how EU membership can both support and constrain democratic reforms in member states, as well as the emergence of new arenas of democratic backsliding, such as legal mobilisations against the rule of law. Emphasising a multidisciplinary and inclusive perspective, the programme particularly welcomes contributions addressing underrepresented regions and actors in current research.

The Summer School will be held at the Palazzone di Cortona, one of the sites of the Scuola Normale Superiore, in the small town of Cortona in southern Tuscany, Italy and at the European University Institute (plenary session only). The school will take place from September 27-30 2025.

The Summer School is open to 25 PhD researchers, 10 of which sponsored by the EUI Widening Programme scholarship. The school is intended for students currently enrolled in PhD programs. However, applications from MA students and junior post-docs who have already defended their dissertations will also be considered. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a short cover letter (no more than 1 page) outlining how their research focus fits with the topic of the Summer School and how participation in the school would benefit their research, clearly stating it they are applying to Widening scholarship or not. These materials should be submitted as one PDF by sending an email to Prof. Manuela Caiani ([email protected]) and Lorenzo Cicchi ([email protected]) before July 30, 2025. Accepted candidates will be notified no later than 10 August 2025.

There are no enrolment fees. Lunch, the two social dinners, coffee breaks and bus transfer (A/R) between Florence and Cortona are covered by the School for all participants. Travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the stay need to be covered by the participants, except for students covered by the EUI Widening Programme scholarship. These scholarships cover all school-related costs, including air travel and accommodation. To qualify, applicants must both hold citizenship in and be affiliated with a university from one of the countries in the following list:
Inside the European Union: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Outside the European Union: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The organisers will assist in providing accommodation in either single or double rooms in hotels in Cortona and Florence. Classes will take place in Florence on the first day and in Cortona, in the same location, in the subsequent days. Cortona is a small town in the South of Tuscany, Italy.

The Summer School consists of three days with lectures (5 lectures) by prominent scholars in the field of political science, political sociology, and communication studies, and sessions on feedback of students projects/papers presentations in the afternoon (3 Feedback Sessions). The students will have a theoretical session and a more applied session on their projects/methodological session every day. Students will also get feedback from experts in the field about their own research projects.

Saturday, 27 September - European University Institute, Villa Schifanoia, Florence
14.00 – 14.30 Welcome coffee
14.30 – 15.00 Introductory remarks and practical information, Sala Europa, Villa Schifanoia, European University Institute (Erik Jones, Lorenzo Cicchi, Manuela Caiani)
15.00 – 17.00 Plenary session with keynote speech: The Risks of backsliding within the EU | Prof. R. Daniel Kelemen, Georgetown University.
Discussant: Veronica Anghel, European University Institute (EUI)
19.30 Social Dinner (location TBC, Florence downtown)

Sunday, 28 September - Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
9.00 Transfer by bus to Cortona (meeting point: Florence downtown)
11.00 Arrival and transfer to participants’ hotels
From 13.00: a lunchbox will be available for participants at the Palazzone of Cortona
14.00 – 14.30 Welcome and practical information in Cortona (Manuela Caiani, Lorenzo Cicchi)
14.30 – 16.00 Lecture 1: Lawyers in backsliding democracy | Prof. Scott Cummings, UCLA School of Law.
16.00 – 16.30 Break
16.30 – 18.30 Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.

Monday, 29 September 2025- Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
09.30 – 11.00 Lecture 2: Far Right Movements and ‘movement-parties’ | Prof. Manuela Caiani (SNS).
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 13.00 Lecture 3: Youth politics in the context of polarization and autocratization | Prof. Marjoke Oosterom, Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 16.30 Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.
16.30 – 17.00 Break
17.00 – 18.30 Lecture 4: Monitoring Media Pluralism in the Digital Era | Iva Nenadic, European University Institute (EUI) & Media freedom and democratic backsliding | Maria Zuffova (EUI).

Tuesday, 30 September - Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
09.30 – 11.00 Lecture 5: Democratic Struggles in Contested States | Prof. Jelena Dzankic, European University Institute (EUI).
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 13.00 Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.
13.00 – 14.30 Farewell lunch

End of the summer school and transfer by bus to Florence.