This book highlights pressing challenges confronting liberal democracy and the rule of law by presenting a series of compelling narratives from individuals who experience the expression of dissensus over liberal democracy in their professional lives. By exploring diverse perspectives on democracy and contrasting visions for its future, the book offers a nuanced understanding of the dissensus surrounding liberal democracy today.

Through in-depth interviews with academics, intellectuals, artists, human rights activists, journalists, representatives of international organizations, and political and social actors, this book sheds new light on the current state of liberal democracy across various policy domains and countries. It illustrates the struggles and strategies of those facing democratic dissent while offering innovative pathways to reinvigorate liberal democracy for the 21st century.

The book concludes with forward-looking policy recommendations and citizen-centered solutions, addressing critical questions of legitimacy and resilience for liberal democracies in an era of global transformation.

Autorentext

Ramona Coman is Professor of Political Science at the Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, where she served as President (2009-2023) and Director (2014-2019) of the Institute for European Studies. Her research focuses on dynamics of policy/institutional change, democratization and Europeanization.

Frederik Ponjaert is researcher at the Institute for European Studies at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Assistant Lecturer in Comparative Regionalism at SciencesPo (IEP-Paris). His research is on comparative regionalism, with an emphasis on European and Asian realities.

Andrew Bradley is a development/democracy practitioner with a focus on Africa and Europe, specializing in EU-AU institutional architecture. He is the Scientific Coordinator of the PolyCIVIS Project at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and member of the RED-SPINEL Project Management Team at the Institut d'études européennes (IEE) of the ULB.