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📣 As we conclude AUTHLIB in the coming weeks, stay with us for the roll-out of a set of exciting country and policy papers, showcasing the varieties of illiberal drivers and appeal across Europe, and our analysis and recommendations to address the illiberal challenge on the EU level.

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🙏 And it's a wrap! We have concluded our final academic conference with a keynote speech by Michael Ignatieff @weareceu.bsky.social 🔥 What's the role of liberalism in an illiberal age? Michael Ignatieff argued that democratic leadership & European unity serve as hope for the survival of democracy.

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Giving a glimps into @mores-project.bsky.social, @zsolt-boda.bsky.social (Eötvös Loránd University) also joined the conference and shared insights into their ongoing work on moral emotions and populist governance.

Peter Kreko (Eötvös Loránd University) and Gábor Orosz (Flinders University) discussed the initial findings of their democratic inoculation experiment that is bridging AUTHLIB and the recently launched @mores-project.bsky.social.

😱 Emotions play a central role in political communication and are used by political actors to mobilize. 🧐 AUTHLIB's team at the Oxford Uni, led by Stephen Whitefield, who presented the results of the team's lab experiments, studied the effects of emotional appeal on illiberal beliefs and behavior.

The panel closed with the presentation of Bálint Mikola @weareceu.bsky.social of his joint work with Péter Radó (Eötvös Loránd University, CEU) that assessed how illiberalism transforms social and educational policies in Central Europe.

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Following her intervention, Eva Fodor @weareceu.bsky.social explored the how gender issues are targeted and instrumentalized by illiberal forces.

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❗ Illiberal forces impact policies and institutions. AUTHLIB studied their influence across various policy areas. 🔥 Mieke Verloo (Radboud University) analyzed how illiberals influence knowledge production and research in service of their authoritarian agenda creating a mutually reinforcing cycle.

@petraguasti.bsky.social @charlesuni.cuni.cz shared how various forms of deliberation tested in the framework of AUTHLIB impacts polarization and whether it has the potential to change people's views in ideologically charged as well as locally sensitive matters.

⚠️ @danielhegedus.bsky.social @gmfus.bsky.social discussed the illiberal challenge to democratic civil society in Europe and put forward elaborate EU-level recommendations to protect and strengthen the sector. Stay tunedned for the paper!

💡 Moving from theory to practice, AUTHLIB put forward recommendations to counter illiberal chalenges to democracy and strengthen liberal democracy in Europe.

Zsolt Enyedi @zsolt.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social talked about the "illiberal international" exploring the elite-level cooperation identifying key nods and mapping ideological differences among illiberal groups.

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🔗 Batuhan Eren and Manuela Caiani @sns.it presented their main takeaways from their research on the growing connections among far right parties, movements, and civic actors across borders and the ongoing transnational learning among them.

💥The second day of our concluding conference started with a timely discussion on the transnationalization of the far right.

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Elena Cossu @eui-eu.bsky.social shared her findings on the conceptualization and measurement of illiberal and far-right party communication using LLMs.

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Marvin Stecker @marvins.bsky.social (University of Vienna) spoke about the dynamics of demonisation of outgroups in the discourse of nationalistic political parties.

@giulianoformisano.bsky.social introduced his work with @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social and Stephen Whitefield at @ox.ac.uk studying the role of emotional rhetoric in party communication.

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🗣️ AUTHLIB has explored the discourse of illiberal actors and the role of emotions in political communication. 📄 Carsten Q. Schneider @cqschneider.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social discussed if and how political leaders’ public speech can act as an early warning signal of democratic decline.

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Marta Vuković @martav.bsky.social @univie.ac.at shared insights from her work with Sylvia Kritzinger on how justifications shape citizens' support for party ban and ultimately for militant democracy.

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Jan Rovny @jrovny.bsky.social @sciencespo-cee.bsky.social discussed his joint work with Elena Cossu and Luis Sattelmayer about support for democracy among the Muslim minority in Western Europe.

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@benstanley.eu and Marta Żerkowska-Balas (SWPS University) introduced their initial analysis on the varieties of illiberal views held by voters across countries.

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💭 Radosław Markowski and Piotr Zagórski @pzag.bsky.social (SWPS University) discussed the varieties of trust in government and satisfaction with democracy as it emerges from the AUTHLIB Survey.

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Peter Bori, Bálint Mikola @weareceu.bsky.social and @schaferd.bsky.social @msstate.bsky.social experimented whether AI may be able to replace experts in evaluating the varieties of parties' positions.

@erinjenne.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social and @yavuzmehmet.bsky.social (University of Salzburg) discussed how populism and nationalism shows up in National Security Strategies.

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Dean Schafer @schaferd.bsky.social @msstate.bsky.social tracked varieties of party positions through a word embedding approach.

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💥Our panel on parties and illiberalism did not only showcase the variety of illiberalism in Europe but also the variety of methods used by the AUTHLIB team. 📊 @jrovny.bsky.social @sciencespo-cee.bsky.social showed the varieties of parties' illiberalism through the Chapel Hill Expert Survey.

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💡We closed the panel with a case study on Poland showcasing the challenges of returning to the rule of law, presented by Barbara Grabowska-Moroz @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social.

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Zoltán Miklósi @zmiklosi.bsky.social and Andres Moles @weareceu.bsky.social then introduced the work of AUTHLIB's political philosophers who have studied the normative boundaries of defending liberal democracy.

⚖️ Our second discussion explored liberal norms underpinning democracy, their defense, and the difficulties in re-establishing the rule of law. 💭 @profmarlenewind.bsky.social (Uni Copenhagen) discussed if we see a renaissance of political constitutionalism and drew attention to attacks on courts.

🗣️Finally, we heard from @caterinafr.bsky.social @sciencespo-cee.bsky.social showing how illiberalism is rising in France and how it influences the country's political landscape. 📚Stay tuned for our AUTHLIB Country Paper series including our Sciences Po team's paper on France!

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🗺️ We carried on with Staffan I. Lindberg @silindberg.bsky.social (University of Gothenburg) discussing the the severity of democratic backsliding we see today in the world and what supports U-turns in autocratization.

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💭 We continued with an insightful discussion about illiberalism across time with Balázs Trencsényi @weareceu.bsky.social giving an overview about the history of illiberal thought as it was studied by AUTHLIB's scholars.

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🔖 We kicked off the day with AUTHLIB's consortium head, Zsolt Enyedi @zsolt.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social introducing the research focus of the project & @veghzsuzsanna.bsky.social @gmfus.bsky.social highlighting some of the main achivements of the past 3.5 years.

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

💥 Our two-day concluding conference is already underway at the Central European University @weareceu.bsky.social! If you are in Budapest, come by today and tomorrow to learn about illiberalism in Europe from all the excellent scholars of Authlib and join our discussion!

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📣 AUTHLIB Final Conference - Coming up this week! 🗺️ Mapping the Illiberal Challenge: Patterns, Drivers, Consequences 📅 Jan 8–9, 2026 📍 @weareceu.bsky.social, Budapest Two days on illiberalism, democracy & democratic responses. ✅ Register TODAY: www.authlib.eu/authlib-fina...

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

📣 AUTHLIB Final Conference 🗺️ Mapping the Illiberal Challenge: Patterns, Drivers, Consequences 📅 Jan 8–9, 2026 📍 @weareceu.bsky.social, Budapest Two days on illiberalism, democracy & democratic responses. 👉 Register today to secure your spot: www.authlib.eu/authlib-fina...

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

💡 AUTHLIB is at the European Consortium for Political Research @ecpr.bsky.social General Conference today at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). 💭 Join us for an exciting discussion starting soon. ✍ Stay tuned for our latest publications on illiberalism in Europe over the next weeks!

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

🧠 How can we understand—and counter—the rise of neo-authoritarianism in Europe? AUTHLIB systematically studies the varieties of illiberalism to offer solutions to protect liberal democracy. 📩 Stay informed and subscribe to our newsletter: www.authlib.eu/newsletter/

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

🛡️ Democracy’s defenders need knowledge, not just ideals. The AUTHLIB project investigates Europe’s illiberal challenges and offers tools for action. 📩 Sign up to receive our research highlights, event news, and policy insights: www.authlib.eu/newsletter/

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

🛡️ Europe’s liberal democracies are facing diverse illiberal challenges. The AUTHLIB project maps these threats—and crafts tools to counter them. 📩 Stay connected: www.authlib.eu/newsletter/

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

🛡️ Want to understand and defend democracy against new authoritarian threats? ❗️Stay informed with insights from the AUTHLIB project. 📩 Sign up for our newsletter today: www.authlib.eu/newsletter/

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❗Happening now at @ceudeminst.bsky.social! Tune in for our lecture with @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social (Princeton University): "From Christian Democracy to Christian Autocracy" 👉 www.authlib.eu/from-christi...

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🗨️ What are the sources of political legitimacy in various liberal and anti-liberal contexts? 🗣️ Radosław Markowski (SWPS University) presented initial findings of the AUTHLIB project based on a comparative survey we conducted in 7 countries. ❗Stay tuned for the results to drop soon!

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🗨️ What is democratic frontsliding and can the EU support it? 🗣️ @ascherz.bsky.social @stockholm-uni.bsky.social discussed the role and conditions of "restorative disobedience" in restoring democracy and the rule of law following periods of democratic backsliding within the European Union.

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🗨️ What’s new about the new Catholic anti-liberalism? 🗣️ Fabio Wolkenstein @univie.ac.at discussed the political thought of Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule and their influence on the American Catholic right.

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🗨️ What role should media play in defending liberal democracy? 🗣️ Gabriele Badano (@yorkuniversity.bsky.social) considered its potential stabilizing role in liberal democratic societies.

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

We are kicking off the 2nd day of our "Defending Liberalism" workshop at @ceudeminst.bsky.social 🗨️ Can democrats restrict the democratic rights of anti-democrats? 🗣️ Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen @au.dk explores the morality of the question and whether anti-democrats would have a moral complaint against

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How can we think of the relationship between the liberal state and civil society when it comes to legal limitations? 🗣️ Paula Falci's (LMU Munich) research sheds light on democratic resilience in light of the normalization of more coercive legal measures on CSOs.

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AUTHLIB @authlibeu.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Is the use of counterstereotypical models useful in fighting stereotypes and prejudice? 🗣️ Maxime Lepoutre (Uni of Reading) highlights the upsides and downsides of their application.