RevDem Podcast

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura – authors of Posttraumatische Souveränität. Ein Essay – explain why they have centred the concept of posttraumatic sovereignty in their new book and how it might help us account for current trends in East Central Europe; reflect on the prevalence of trauma discourses and the tensions and risks inherent to such discourses; and discuss how

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Yaroslav Trofimov – author of the new book Our Enemies Will Vanish. The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence – shows how Ukraine has turned out to be much stronger than hoped whereas Russia has proven significantly weaker than feared; discusses the major crimes Russia has committed in Ukraine and the destruction its war of aggression has wrought; reflects on the experience of reporting on a major conflict in his country of origin; describes the evolving relationship between the Ukrainian leadership and its Western supporters; and shares his assessment of the prospects for Ukraine.

Yaroslav Trofimov is the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal. He has reported on most major conflicts of the past two decades. Yaroslav Trofimov is the author of two previous books and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting in

Our Enemies Will Vanish. The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence has been published by Penguin Press.

The editors of the Review of Democracy, CEU Democracy Institute's online platform participated in an online conversation summarizing their favorite pieces in 2023.

On behalf of the RevDem staff, we wish our audience Happy New Year! Visit us and listen to us in 2024 too!

Hello, my name is Feren Laczo, I am an editor at the Review of Democracy, and I am also the co-head of the Ideas

Ideas editors and podcasters have been invited to a continuous feast in 2023: the year has offered an unusual number of original publications of the highest caliber.

Natasha Wheatley’s The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty,

Here comes an all too selective list of five recommendations from RevDem Ideas of books that deserve to be more widely read and discussed.

Kasia Krzyżanowska, RevDem editor

Only two out of five books recommended here were published in 2023 (including a one translation of a book

Hello, my name is Oliver Garner.

I'm the editor of the Rule of Law section of the C EU Democracy Institute's Live Platform, The

My first choice is the abuse of constitutional identity in the European Union by Julian Scholtes, published by Oxford University Press.

This year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julian about his work in autumn for RevDem.

This monograph provides another challenge to one of the prevailing notions in liberal Western academia that the empty seat of power in supranational integration within Europe is a desirable feature of modernity.

Instead, such over bureaucratization may be a causative factor in the democratic irritations of populism and the liberalism. As Auer argues in this book, a full symposium on the monograph with contributions from Peter J. Verovšek, Gábor Halmai, and Petr Agha is available on RevDem.

My fourth choice is the book, The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Conflict in the European Union by Anna Bobek, published by Oxford University Press in 2022.

The legal face of the liberal challenge to supranational integration may be regarded as the constitutional conflicts between national apex courts and the Court of

Her development of categories of constructive and destructive constitutional conflict in the European Union may marry well with Scholtz's notions of abusive and genuine constitutional identity claims and both can be very useful tools in the future for such conflicts.

My final choice is the research handbook on the politics of constitutional law, edited by Mark Tushnet and the Lead researcher for the rule of law workgroup, Dmitry Kochenov.

This, will I believe be an authoritative tone on the interaction between core concepts such as democracy and the rule of law within constitutional systems.

The handbook is divided into contributions on foundations, structure rights and futures, which allows both a systematic look into the origins of constitutional politics and valuable reflections upon its development by a wide array of greatvoices within the field.

I hope that you have also enjoyed these books if you've also managed to read them this year and I hope you've also enjoyed the content we've put out on RevDem on the rule of law section and our book review section on themes covered in these works and similar.

I hope that you will join us again in 2024 when we continue to deliver podcasts and op-eds considering these arguments that are relevant for democracy in Europe.

“To protect the future of liberal democracy in Europe, one must first understand its challengers.” So is the motto of AUTHLIB, the project titled ‘Neo-Authoritarianisms in Europe and the Liberal Democratic Response’, led by the CEU Democracy Institute, funded by the European Union and the UK Innovation and Research, and implemented in

Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it relate to populism? Can illiberals be democrats at all? What are the policy implications of having illiberal politicians, especially of the radical right, in power in the EU? This interview explores these questions with Professor Cas Mudde. It covers various issues at the intersection of academic and policy research on populism, illiberalism, democracy, and the radical right. It discusses whether the growing body of literature on illiberalism addresses something that is fundamentally new on the

Cas Mudde is a professor of international affairs and a distinguished research professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. His academic research agenda centers around the question how liberal democracies can defend themselves against political challenges without undermining their core values. He has published widely on uncivil society, democratization, Euroskepticism, extremism, and the practices of political parties, especially those of far right and populist inclinations.

This interview was conducted as a collaboration between The Review of Democracy and the research consortium "AUTHLIB - Neo-authoritarianisms in Europe and the

In this conversation with RevDem editor Robert Nemeth, Dean Starkman and Neil Weinberg (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) talk about Cyprus Confidential, the investigation exposing how Cyprus-based financial services firms have enabled the Russian elite— including Vladimir Putin’s inner circle — to shelter their wealth and shield billions of dollars in assets from the threat of impending sanctions.

Dean Starkman is a senior editor for ICIJ, a Fellow of the

Neil Weinberg is a senior reporter for ICIJ. He has more

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, John M. Owen IV – author of the new book

John M. Owen IV is Amb. Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center for Public Affairs. 

The Ecology of Nations. American Democracy in a

Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it relate to populism? Can illiberals be democrats at all? What are the policy implications of having illiberal politicians, especially of the radical right, in power in the EU? This interview explores these questions with Professor Cas Mudde. It covers various issues

Cas Mudde is a professor of international affairs and a distinguished research professor at the School of