Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science Isabela Mares has recently published a volume, co-edited with Professor Giovanni Capoccia, Oxford University. Thier co-directed project, “Back from the Brink: Countering Illiberalism in Liberal Democracies”, lays the groundwork for a research agenda on how illiberal forces can be countered in liberal democracies. The results of the project are forthcoming in a double special issue of Comparative Political Studies.
The literature on the current crisis of liberal democracy focuses on the rise of illiberalism and populism as well as on the erosion of democratic rights and institutions; less systematic attention has been paid to study how pro-democratic actors can prevent, contain, or resist illiberalism. This volume brings together scholars from different subfields of comparative politics and political sociology to discuss the conditions of viability and effectiveness of strategies to prevent the rise, contain the influence, and resist the power of political illiberalism in democracies.