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Political Parties and Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in the European Parliament

par Coman, Ramona ;Brack, Nathalie ;Miscoiu, Sergiu
Référence Comparative European politics
Publication A Paraître, 2026-02-01

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

Liberal democracy in the European Union faces significant challenges. Core pillars are increasingly contested, eroded, or dismantled. Against this backdrop, this special issue addresses the following question: how do political parties in the European Parliament engage with liberal democracy amid growing contestations? We argue that liberal democracy has become a line of conflict at the supranational level, generating dissensus, i.e. a conflict over meaning that drives actors apart. Drawing on historical accounts about the rise and fall of democracy in Europe and research on ideology, we show that liberal democracy has never rested on stable consensus, and that political parties have always been central to its defence, challenge, and reinterpretation. Rather than a simple pro/anti-democratic divide, we contend that dissensus is more complex: party families, shaped by distinct ideological traditions, selectively emphasise certain dimensions of democracy while contesting others. This introductory article also presents the six articles in the special issue, which trace how mainstream parties, the radical left, the far right as well as social movements articulate competing visions of democracy and position themselves on liberal democracy and the rule of law.