Democracy

The March issue of the WZB-Mitteilungen makes ready for a year of elections in Europe, in eastern federal states of Germany, in the USA and many other countries around the world, for which the stakes are high: What will be the future of liberal democracy? 

Featuring research on a form of government that is not as predestined as recent decades would have us believe.

The print issue can be found here as a PDF. The online articles on our new focus can be found on this page.

Lessons from Scandinavia

Far-right ideas are gaining ground in many places, as are far-right parties. Political forces in the center are faced with the challenge of shaping their policies in such a way that they can put a stop to this trend. Our guest researcher Sanna Salo has studied developments in Finland and Sweden and derives recommendations for the German situation.

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Debt brake and democracy

On November 15, 2023, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the second supplementary budget unconstitutional. The federal government had to significantly reschedule the budget. The court based its decision on the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law. As Mark Copelovitch and Daniel Ziblatt show in their analysis, its austerity dictates are not only an obstacle to economic development, but also a threat to democracy in Germany and Europe.

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Influence from the far right

How do right-wing extremist groups try to gain a foothold in civil society? In the research project "Organised civil society and right-wing interventions", Christin Jänicke and Hans Jonas Gunzelmann are investigating right-wing strategies and the reactions of associations, initiatives, and organizations to them. They talk about their project in a video interview.

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