Varieties of dissensus over liberal democracy in the EU. National and transnational actors

   

Abstract

This article introduces the special issue on the actors of dissensus over liberal democracy in the European Union. While scholarly attention has primarily focused on radical right parties, institutional responses, and on civil society as either targets of illiberal policies or agents of resistance, we argue that this phenomenon is broader and involves a wide range of societal actors. Through a set of case studies across both Eastern and Western European democracies, we analyze whether and how think tanks, media organizations, religious institutions, intellectuals, and experts contribute to challenging liberal democratic principles at the national and supranational levels. The articles in this special issue investigate the nature of dissensus as well as the ways through which these actors disseminate their ideas, identifying which dimensions of liberal democracy they contest and how they interact with institutional and political actors. By examining diverse organizations across multiple European countries, this special issue provides a comprehensive analysis of how civil society actors contribute to dissensus over liberal democracy, moving beyond traditional narratives of civil society as exclusively democratic champions and offering new insights into democracy's contemporary challenges.