Kooijmanslezing 2025
De jaarlijkse Kooijmanslezing wordt gehouden op 18 september 16:00 - 17:00 in de Aurorazaal van het hoofdgebouw door prof. dr. Sarah de Lange, hoogleraar politiek pluralisme bij de afdeling Politicologie van de Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Liberal democratic backsliding in times of populism, nativism and authoritarianism
The rise to power of far-right political forces across the globe, characterized by an ideology premised on authoritarianism, nativism, and populism, is causing democratic backsliding at an unprecedented scale. Separation of powers and rule of law principles, such as equality before the law, and independent judiciary, and the protection of fundamental right, are being eroded in newer and established democracies, such as Argentina, Hungary, India, Italy, Poland, and the United States. How can we understand the far-right’s relationship to liberal democracy and its assault on its foundations? And what types of responses can be successful in curbing democratic backsliding? Based on the state-of-the art in social science research, Sarah de Lange answers these urgent questions.
Bio: Sarah L. de Lange is Professor of Political Pluralism at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. She is an expert on the rise of radical, populist, and extremist movements and political parties and their electoral success, their government participation, and their impact on democracy, and frequently appears in the media (e.g. BBC, CNN, the Economist, Financial Times, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post), to inform the public of the challenges these forces pose for liberal democracy.