Democratic developments in Central and Eastern Europe

• Department of Economics
• Department of History
• Department of Law
• Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies
• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• Department of Political and Social Sciences
• Florence School of Transnational Governance
• Development and External Relations Service
• TD21 - Trasnational Democracy in the 21st century

This event is organised by the Transnational Democracy in the 21st Century Interdisciplinary Research Cluster.

"Is democracy in danger?" asked Foreign Affairs on October 30. The issue was not Central Europe per se, but the rise of "illiberal democracy" championed by Viktor Orbán in Hungary over the past decade. This concept has become a frequently cited reference—if not a model—for the Republican candidate in the U.S. presidential race. This moment offers an opportunity to assess democracy’s evolution in Central Europe, from the successful transitions of the 1990s to its more recent erosion or "democratic backsliding." How can we account for this trend, and how might it be contained?

After identifying the main symptoms from a comparative perspective, the lecture will explore key explanatory hypotheses, ranging from socio-economic factors and historical parallels with the 1930s to the rise of nationalism, identity politics, and "culture wars." In conclusion, we will examine the European Union's capacity to curb the populist-illiberal shift and dismantle its legacy, as currently attempted in Poland.

About the speaker:

Professor Jacques Rupnik was born in Prague in 1950 and educated at the University of Paris and at Harvard. He is currently Emeritus Research Professor at the Center for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po in Paris, a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, and member of the Research Council of the International Forum for Democracy Studies in Washington.