Political Parties and the Future of Democracy

More than eighty years ago, Schattschneider famously argued that “modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.” Parties remain the key intermediaries between citizens and the state, structuring political competition, articulating and aggregating interests, recruiting leaders, and connecting citizens to decision-making. Democracy’s functioning still depends on their capacity to represent and govern. Yet in recent years, particularly amid multiple overlapping crises in Europe and beyond, political parties are facing a profound crisis of credibility and legitimacy. Research shows that parties struggle to balance representation and governing responsibilities (e.g., Poguntke, Webb and Scarrow 2024; Katz and Mair 2018). Moreover, not all political parties are equally committed to democratic norms: some actively undermine core democratic principles through polarizing rhetoric, exclusionary policies, or institutional reforms (e.g., Manucci 2024, Engler et al. 2023, Galston 2018). The rise and electoral success of such parties, together with citizen’s declining trust and engagement, indicate that the legitimacy of parties as democratic institutions is under pressure. At the same time, research on democratic resilience shows that parties can also be effective defenders of democracy, promoting pluralism, democratic norm adherence, and institutional accountability (e.g., Meléndez and Rovira-Kaltwasser 2021; Bernhard et al 2020). A particularly concerning trend is the strategic convergence of mainstream parties toward radical right positions to maintain electoral competitiveness (see for instance, Bichay 2024, Brown et al 2023, Rensmann 2018, Abou-Chadi and Krause 2020; Bale et al 2010). Such convergence raises pressing theoretical and empirical questions about the resilience of democratic institutions and the future of democracy as we know it. In parallel, digitalisation and emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence—are transforming party competition, internal decision-making, campaign strategies, and the very nature of representation. This section welcomes panels and papers that critically examine these developments. We encourage contributions that analyze how parties defend or undermine democratic norms, how party system configurations shape these strategies, how emerging technologies interact with democratic processes, and how institutional crises such as those confronting the European Union, reshape inter-party dynamics. Endorsed by the ECPR Standing Group on Political Parties, this section aims to bring together conceptual, comparative, and case study work using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches, including innovative methodologies. We invite proposals addressing (but not limited to) the following themes and questions: 1. Parties’ strategies in defending and challenging democratic norms: Which party and party system types are more successful in defending democratic norms and resisting authoritarian tendencies? 2. Understanding the erosion of party legitimacy: What are the underlying causes and broader consequences of the erosion of party legitimacy? 3. Democracy and the far-left and far-right: What explains the cross-national variations in how far-right and far-left parties challenge democratic procedures? 4. Impact of new technologies on parties: How are digitalisation and artificial intelligence reshaping party competition, campaign strategies, and internal democracy? 5. The rise and mainstreaming of radical right actors: How do parties respond to the rise and mainstreaming of radical right actors? With what implications for pluralism and democratic quality? 6. Parties’ measures to strengthen democratic resilience: How can political parties strengthen democratic values and practices—whether through internal organisational routines,procedures and reforms, societal engagement, or governmental action? 7. Institutional crises and its impact on party democracy: To what extent and in what way did the crises that the EU has faced in the last fifteen years change the dynamics between the parties that protect democratic norms and those that challenge them? 8. Methodological considerations in the study of parties and democracy: What are the methodological challenges and opportunities to study parties’ relationship with democracy? What methodological challenges and innovations (e.g. computational methods, experiments, Citizen Science approaches and co-creation) advance research on parties and democracy?