Across the globe—and increasingly within Europe—liberal democracy is under threat from a wide array of illiberal forces. These challengers, and consequently the challenges they pose, are not uniform. They differ markedly in their ideological profiles as well as in their levels of populism. An initial analysis conducted within AUTHLIB identified several distinct types among them: traditionalist-religious, xenophobic-populist, leftist-secular, and non-traditional, non-populist right parties. Treating these actors as a single phenomenon would obscure critical variation in their narratives, constituencies, appeal, and pursued policy impact. AUTHLIB’s core premise is that “to protect the future of liberal democracy, we must first understand its challengers.” This paper series puts that premise into practice by mapping the varieties of illiberalism as they manifest among parties and voters in seven focus countries—Austria, Czechia, Great Britain, France, Hungary, Italy, and Poland—and by identifying context-specific vulnerabilities that enable their appeal.
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