*10 scholarships are available for applicants from Widening countries, covering all school-related costs, including air travel and accommodation.

More specifically, participants will examine:
▪️ political participation and online campaigning
▪️ social movements and contentious politics
▪️ media, political elites, and EU institutions
▪️ comparative perspectives, with a focus on underrepresented regions

Experts will ask:
🔸 Which elements of the liberal project are essential and universalisable?
🔸 What explains the appeal of illiberal alternatives?
🔸 Can small states remain liberal in a post-liberal world?
🔸 How should the West respond to shifting power structures?

📌 Get in touch & become part of this project for knowledge translation for the wider public between the @ecpr.bsky.social 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗣 & the @eui-schuman.bsky.social @eui-egpp.bsky.social @eui-eu.bsky.social

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Check out the conference programme for more information on the panels' topics and discussions 🔗 lnkd.in/g7znUzaw

Paweł Marczewski (Batory Foundation) analysed civic mobilisation in Poland from 2015 to 2023, highlighting how civil society organisations have countered illiberal governance—and questioned whether the recent democratic turnaround is sustainable.

Aleksandra Krstić (University of Belgrade) shared personal insights from her journalistic experience to illustrate how Serbia’s media regulator has been co-opted as a tool for authoritarian consolidation.

Veronica Anghel and Erik Jones (@eui-eu.bsky.social) introduced the concept of “democracy bubbles” to explain why apparently resilient democracies can suddenly collapse—and how they are developing a framework to anticipate institutional breakdown.

🗣️ Licia Cianetti and Nick Cheeseman (University of Birmingham) explored how a state’s administrative, coercive, and extractive capacities influence both the onset and consolidation of authoritarianism.