In this Think Piece co-authors Ramona Coman and Nathalie Brack argue that dissensus over liberal democracy is no longer restricted to the fringes of society. Liberal democracy has always had been contested by anti-system parties. What is distinctive is that the stances and claims against liberal democracy are no longer located at the extremes of the political spectrum but have become mainstream. Not only populist radical right parties in many countries are large enough to play a governing role or to put pressure on governing parties, there are also forms of contestation that have flourished targeting the core principles of the political game, which have long been taken for granted. On the other hand, in addition to the attacks on liberal democracy coming from populists, we are also witnessing a crisis of conviction in the centre, with a wider range of actors which contend that liberal democracy has become an “empty shell” and needs to be reinvented. 

The current conflict around liberal democracy possesses an inherent conductivity, effectively transferring dissent between the social, legal, and political arenas and making it more complex and challenging. It is especially the case as the institutions that are supposed to channel social, political and legal conflicts seem also to be failing in liberal democracy nowadays. As a result, different conceptions of democracy and its core pillars are disputed within the EU, at the domestic and supranational levels, with implications for domestic and supranational polities and a wide range of national and European policies.