On 8–9 January 2026, the AUTHLIB consortium convened its concluding academic conference, Mapping the Illiberal Challenge: Patterns, Drivers, and Consequences, at Central European University in Budapest. The event marked the culmination of more than three years of collaborative research under the Horizon Europe–funded project Neo-authoritarianism in Europe and the Liberal Democratic Response, bringing together scholars from across Europe and beyond to take stock of what has been learned about the nature, drivers, and consequences of contemporary illiberalism.
The project’s results were showcased by researchers from the Central European University as well as partner institutions across the AUTHLIB Consortium including the University of Oxford, Sciences Po, Scuola Normale Superiore, Charles University, SWPS University, the University of Vienna, and the Transatlantic Foundation/The German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Recordings of the panels are available via the AUTHLIB YouTube channel on the playlist below.
Across two days, the conference offered a wide-ranging and analytically rich examination of illiberalism as a political phenomenon. Rather than treating illiberalism as a uniform phenomenon, the discussions emphasized its diversity across time, countries, and policy areas. Contributions traced the historical roots and intellectual legacies of illiberal thought, while also engaging with its contemporary manifestations in democratic backsliding, party politics, public discourse, and governance. This long-term perspective highlighted how today’s illiberal challenges draw on older political traditions while adapting to new institutional and societal contexts.
Speakers discussed the tension between liberal democratic norms and the strategies deployed to undermine them and explored how constitutionalism, judicial independence, and the rule of law come under pressure when illiberal actors gain influence, as well as the difficulties democratic systems face when attempting to defend themselves without eroding their own normative foundations. These debates underscored the moral and political dilemmas inherent in safeguarding liberal democracy in an era of polarization and declining trust.
The conference also showcased the breadth of empirical research conducted within AUTHLIB. Drawing on large-scale surveys, expert assessments, text-as-data approaches, and experimental methods, researchers examined the societal bases of illiberalism, including citizens’ attitudes toward democracy, trust in institutions, and support for restrictive or “militant” democratic measures. Other contributions focused on political communication, highlighting the role of emotions, narratives, and rhetorical strategies in mobilizing support for illiberal politics and normalizing democratic transgressions.
Beyond national dynamics, the discussions emphasized the increasingly transnational character of illiberalism. Participants examined how far-right and illiberal actors cooperate across borders, exchange ideas, and learn from one another, raising questions about the adequacy of nationally bounded democratic responses. At the same time, the conference reflected on practical ways to counter these trends, presenting policy recommendations, insights from deliberative democratic experiments, and strategies aimed at strengthening civil society and democratic resilience.
Several contributions addressed how illiberal governance reshapes concrete policy fields, including research and knowledge production, gender equality, social policy, and education. These discussions illustrated how illiberalism operates not only through electoral politics and rhetoric, but also through sustained institutional and policy change that can have long-lasting societal effects.
The conference concluded with reflections on the broader implications of the AUTHLIB project’s findings for the future of liberal democracy in Europe. Altogether, the conference presented over 30 research contributions and offered a rigorous, multi-dimensional assessment of the illiberal challenge facing Europe today. As the project is coming to an end, the conference underscored AUTHLIB’s core message: understanding the complexity of illiberalism is a prerequisite for developing credible and effective democratic responses.
The full conference program is available HERE.
Photo credit: István Fazekas/CEU
