News from the CEU Democracy Institute

In the 17th edition of the Democracy Bulletin, your quarterly newsletter from the CEU Democracy Institute (DI), we are spotlighting our accomplishments and publications from the past months, including interviews with prestigious news programs, awards, and our annual conference.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Excessive Wealth Concentration and Democracy: CEU DI Annual Conference 2025

Our Annual Conference will focus on three central questions: How does excessive wealth harm democracy? Can hyper-wealth produce public goods? How can we contain excessive wealth? Learn more about the program and register here.

Renata Uitz Receives Dimitris Tsatsos Prize

Our Senior Research Fellow Renata Uitz received the Dimitris Tsatsos Prize for distinguished achievements in the fields of European Constitutional Studies. Established in 2012 by the Centre for European Constitutional Law and the Dimitris-Tsatsos-Institut für Europäische Verfassungswissenschaften, the Dimitris Tsatsos Prize recognizes individuals of exceptional distinction for their contributions to European Constitutional Studies.

EU Advocate General Cites Article by DI Researchers in LGBTQI Rights Case

An article co-authored by our Senior Visiting Researcher Barbara Grabowska-Moroz and the lead researcher of our Rule of Law Workgroup Dimitry Kochenov, together with Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University), has been cited by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union in a key Opinion concerning LGBTQI rights in Hungary. The Opinion, issued in the case of Commission v. Hungary, addresses the 2021 Hungarian law restricting the portrayal of LGBTQI content to minors, and also references a volume edited by Dimitry Kochenov and Carlos Closa.

Zsolt Enyedi Interviewed Live on BBC

Our Senior Research Fellow Zsolt Enyedi gave a live interview to BBC News about CPAC Hungary. He underlined the importance of the event for Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, who, he said, uses it to present himself as the intellectual and spiritual leader of the radical right, but also noted the absence of high-ranking Italian, French, and American politicians.

Murat Somer Interviewed on CNN

Our Global Forum Fellow Murat Somer discussed the jailing of Istanbul's mayor and its consequences in a live interview on CNN. He characterized the developments in Turkey as an “executive coup,” but highlighted a new political development: for the first time, opposition parties have aligned themselves with the public protests.

Mark Graham Gave Public Lecture

Mark Graham, Director of the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive gave a public lecture at the DI, in an event co-organized with the Blinken OSA Archivum. He provided an introduction to the Wayback Machine and the Internet Archive, created with the goal of archiving and providing access to billions of web pages, helping make the internet more useful and reliable.

Rooftop Seminar Meets for 50th Time

The Rooftop Seminar, the biweekly research seminar of our De- and Re-Democratization Workgroup, celebrated its 50th session with a presentation by CEU Professor Andres Moles on the legitimacy of private discrimination.

RESEARCH

DE- AND RE-DEMOCRATIZATION

Reflection Papers Based on Democratic Expeditions Workshop Published

In September 2024, the Democratic Expeditions project held a workshop titled Moral Dilemmas of Resistance: Political Ethics in the Face of Democratic Regression and Electoral Authoritarianism. A series of reflection papers, written for a broad audience of citizens, activists, journalists, and policy makers, has been published based on some of the papers presented at the workshop.

Workshop on Crisis of Democracy

On May 30, our Post-Doctoral Researcher Yuko Sato led a book workshop on her project Crisis of Democracy?: Targeted Protest and Affective Polarization, exploring how targeted protests impact democratic stability. The session gathered our researchers Andreas Schedler, Natasha Wunsch, Levente Littvay, Lisa Zanotti-Anderloni, Carlos Melendez, Zsofia Bocskay, Gustavo Venturelli, and Selim Erdem Aytac (Koc University).

DEMOCRACY IN HISTORY

Both Lecture Series Continued

The Jeno Szucs Lecture Series and the Budapest Jewish Studies Colloquium each continued with two lectures. In the former, Sinisa Malesevic and Lea David discussed the themes of committing and remembering violence, while Michael Werner examined the rise of modern Caesarism. In the latter, Alexandra Bandl spoke about the Hungarian anti-Zionist trials, and Susan Rubin Suleiman introduced her new book on Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo.

INEQUALITIES

Workshop on Disability and Democracy

The Workgroup held a workshop titled DISDEM 1.0: Disability and Democracy – Perspectives From Diverse Political and Policy Regimes, funded by CIVICA, which offered new data and ideas to better understand both current progress and persistent barriers. CIVICA-based scholars presented their research about disability policies and disability politics in Austria, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Scotland, and Switzerland.

Hungarian Media Widely Report on Debate Featuring Bernadett Sebaly

The latest debate in the Borderless Knowledge series focused on protesting in Hungary, and featured our Research Affiliate Bernadett Sebaly. The event was widely reported in major Hungarian media outlets. According to Bernadett Sebaly, although there is room for further development and the domestic civil sphere needs to be strengthened, she believes that we are full of inspiring stories from which we can learn a great deal and draw a lot of strength for future struggles.

RULE OF LAW

Dimitry Kochenov Discusses Security and Rule of Law in European Parliament

The workgroup’s lead researcher, Dimitry Kochenov, participated in a Rule of Law panel discussion in the European Parliament, organized by Polish MEP Michal Wawrykiewicz. The discussion focused on how the rule of law and independent courts can protect democracy in times of crisis.

New Book on EU Law and the Challenges of Unchecked Plutocracy

The volume edited by Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris) and our Post-doctoral Researcher Jacquelyn Veraldi unpacks whether and how EU law may tackle the existence and exercise of unprecedented plutocratic power.

PODCASTS

Can Democracy Deliver?

Francis Fukuyama and Beatriz Magaloni discuss with Ece Özbey why democratic legitimacy increasingly hinges on governments’ ability to deliver tangible results.

Five Years of Brexit

Politico's EU Confidential Podcast featured former Co-Managing Editors of the Review of Democracy, Oliver Garner and Ferenc Laczo, discussing the fifth anniversary of Brexit.

Truth Talks: Disinformation in Hungary

Our Research Affiliate Karolina Zbytniewska hosted Peter Kreko, also a Research Affiliate at the DI, in a recent episode of Truth Talks, Euractiv Poland's podcast for a discussion of disinformation in Hungary.

Authoritarian Waves Crashing

Dan Slater discusses the rise and fall of left-wing and right-wing authoritarian waves in the 1970s and 1980s; examines how the democratization of countries that exited left-wing authoritarian regimes may have differed from those leaving behind right-wing ones.

Illiberal Transatlantic Ties and the Reshaping of Democracy

Zsuzsanna Végh and Daniel Hegedűs examine transatlantic cooperation between state and non-state actors in the United States and Hungary. They analyze commonalities in narratives and shared practices, assessing their impact on democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.

REVIEW OF DEMOCRACY

The Review of Democracy (RevDem) is our online journal to discuss, analyze, reflect on, and develop possible solutions to the challenges to democracy across the globe today. Check its most important publications from recent weeks:

World War II Anniversary Series

The journal published a special series by distinguished experts, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

What’s Radish Got to Do with Turkish Democracy?

Through the recent arrests of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his colleagues, Ece Özbey traces the chilling implications of the deepening erosion of democratic norms and judicial independence in Turkey—and the defiant stirrings of civic resistance under Erdoğan’s tightening grip on the country.

Erased: Women, Power, and the Hidden History of International Relations

Patricia Owens exposes the hidden foundations of international relations in Britain, not as a field founded solely by elite white men, but one deeply shaped by the intellectual work of women.

Judicial Reforms in Italy: A Risk for the Rule of Law?

With the ongoing judicial reforms, the Italian Government’s conflict with the judiciary has reached a new phase. Benedetta Lobina examines the proposed changes and assesses their impact on the rule of law in Italy.

Mexico’s Judicial Reform: Democracy by Ballot or Power by Design?

Far from empowering citizens or improving justice, the reform may erode the very foundations of democratic rule. Ana Micaela Alterio explores how a process framed as democratization could entrench power, undermine judicial independence, and usher in a new phase of autocratic legalism.

Voting for Togo’s Personalist Dictatorship

In February, Togo became the first of 10 African states to hold (indirect) executive elections in 2025. February 5 also marked the 20th anniversary of the coup that brought Faure Gnassingbé to power. John Chin, Mirren Hibbert, and Staten Rector assess the legacy of the 2005 coup and the failure of Togo’s democratization.

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