Varieties of dissensus over liberal democracy in the EU: Mapping national and European actors

Abstract

The European Union is facing challenging times. On top of a decade of polycrisis, liberal democracy is increasingly challenged, both at the national and supranational level and a diversity of actors fuel conflicts surrounding liberal democracy. This is not the first time that liberal democracy has come under strain and tensions between liberalism and democracy have shaped many formative critical junctures in the EU’s history. However, over the past decade, illiberal competition has become ever more testing, contestation has heightened and taken on a range of different forms, while the actors of dissensus across the EU have become ever more institutionally embedded and vocal in their support of anti-liberal ideas. This panel aims at investigating the challenges to liberal democracy by concentrating on the actors of dissensus. More particularly, the different papers seek to unpack the ambiguous role different actors can play either as champions or as challengers of liberal democratic norms, values, and practices. While some focus more on civil society or the media, others consider political parties and the role of national parliaments. Drawing on the Joint Doctorate Network Marie Skłodowska-Curie GEM-DIAMOND research agenda, this panel brings together scholars seeking to examine, through empirical analysis, the actors of dissensus, their goals and strategies, and the implications of this growing dissensus over liberal democracy for the EU, its policies and instruments.

Title	Details
Dissensus and the Media: The Inconsistent Framings of Spyware Scandals in Poland, Spain, and Greece	View Paper Details
Religious Actors and the Articulation of Dissensus in Romania and Greece	View Paper Details
Explaining Varieties of Illiberalism within the Far-Right in Europe	View Paper Details
Debating the rule of law in the Tweede Kamer: between European values and Dutch national interests?	View Paper Details