Political Radicalism and Alternatives to Liberal Democracy

What is the relationship between political radicalism and democracy? Right wing and left wing political radicals are vocal about limitations of liberal democracies. Political extremism, radical contestation that mobilizes opponents of liberal democracy, as well as support for radical parties on the left and on the right, is a double edged-sword. On the one hand, radical actors bring neglected topics out of the shadows. Radical elements of the mainstream can highlight new issues, sometimes by using populist appeals to re-invigorate political agendas of mainstream parties. Some even suggest that radical actors engage in the process of creative destruction: as mainstream parties ossify and run out of creative solutions to new challenges, radical agendas force the mainstream to adapt and innovate. Naturally, there is a dark side to radical politics. In the absence of cordon sanitaire, extreme right and/or extreme left parties taint public discourse, legitimize vitriolic, hateful political rhetoric and propose simplistic economic solutions to complex problems of contemporary globalized societies. Moreover, the process of mainstreaming of radical agendas leads to the overlap of mainstream and niche parties’ platforms so that the boundaries become either blurry or parties end up in a spiral of extremist outbidding. For instance, radical extra-parliamentary groups, pressure groups that hide on social media to advocate hate, radicalized social movements and uncivil society play an important role in the process of destabilizing the vision of Europe as a continent where minority protection is considered to be a cornerstone of political pluralism. At the same time, movements and parties on the extreme, as well as radicalized mainstream parties, propose alternatives to liberal democracies. Some suggest that liberal democracy advantages minorities at the expense of the majority. Those who (no longer) view liberal democracies as a legitimate form of governance advocate for direct forms of democracy that reconnect politicians with the electorate. Other radical and radicalized movements, parties and politicians seek to enhance majoritarian features of democracies either as a strategic tool to expand executive and legislative power or in order to diminish political pluralism. The rule of experts and technocratic expertise is yet another alternative that combines exclusionary appeals with a rejection of pluralistic liberal democracies. Polarization and identity politics are powerful tools in the hands of radicals who create divided societies unable to reach consensus and gridlocked on policies. The Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy encourages panel submissions that illuminate the link between both institutionalized and non-institutionalized left/right political extremism and challenges faced by old and new liberal democracies. The section encourages panel submissions that are methodologically diverse. Preference will be given to panels that mirror the diversity of the ECPR research community in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, rank, location and regional specialization.