Reports

ECPR General Conference Section Report Conspiring Elites and Disgruntled Masses? Revisiting the Populist and Extremist Challenges to Democracy

University of Innsbruck, Austria 22 – 26 August 2022 #ecprgc22 Fabian Habersack University of Innsbruck Sophia Hunger WZB Berlin Social Science Center Our section at the 2022 ECPR General Conference in Innsbruck, Conspiring Elites and Disgruntled Masses? Revisiting the Populist and Extremist Challenges to Democracy, aimed to bring together researchers across areas, ranks and specialization to assess the rise of radical, populist and anti-democratic actors and the impact their rise has had on the very foundations of party competition and democratic systems. The Extremism & Democracy Standing Group endorsed section marks the first time our research community has had the opportunity to come together in-person after two long years of online conferences. Providing scholars with the chance to get together in Innsbruck, and ensuring that early career researchers in particular can present their work and exchange ideas, was crucial to us as section organizers. The desire to meet in-person was clearly reflected in the number of proposals we received: in total, we had 165 paper submissions, which included twelve full panel submissions. This is evidence of our fast-growing research network and –to our knowledge – record-breaking in the history of the Standing Group. At the conference, 86 paper presentations were eventually given in our section, resulting in a total of no less than 20 panels. Our program reflected the diversity of our vibrant research community in substantive focus of the individual papers, but also in terms of gender: 47 female and 37 male scholars from overall 62 different institutions presented their work in Innsbruck. However, most scholars who travelled to Innsbruck were based in Europe (89%). 49 colleagues were based in Western Europe, followed by 14 in Northern Europe, 7 in Southern Europe, 5 from Eastern Europe, and only 9 from outside of Europe. We would attribute the low proportion of non-European submissions to the uncertain travel

conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have deterred some colleagues from traveling long distances. At the same time, we should develop strategies to include in particular those people who are not based at institutions in Europe. Especially early career researchers who often cannot draw on travel budgets or whose travel costs are only partially refunded face severe obstacles. During the five-day long conference (also a novelty), the section aimed to address a multitude of research questions, include broad perspectives and do so by embracing a variety of methodological approaches. Thematically, the panels covered broad grounds on the nature and extent of populist and extremist challenges to democracy worldwide, and how they can be overcome. Panels covered for instance Protest mobilization in far-right politics, conceptualized and assessed the threats that radical actors pose to democracy and covered causes, consequences, and strategies of radical populist parties in opposition and in government. A range of panels was dedicated more specifically, to populist and radical right actors online, also focusing on their nativism, narratives and networks. Special attention was dedicated to the assessment of geographical variations in the radical right and populist mobilization and success, be it with respect to its spatial-temporal dimensions or to sub-national variation. Other panels focused on non-radical right parties’ reactions to populist, radical and anti-democratic competitors, e.g. by revisiting the populist zeitgeist, assessing counter-strategies, or even by shifting the focus to voters’ perceptions of mainstream party strategies. A further theme was the internal organization and the intra-party politics of populist radical right parties. In addition to a range of panels that were focused on the supply side, three panels aimed to put the demand side center stage, by looking at voters’ perceptions of anti-democratic actors, anti-democratic attitudes, as well as the effects of representative deficits and economic inequality on radical right and populist voting. Further panels investigated the role of conspiracy theories, the mobilization against gender equality by radical right actors, and the impact of populist radical right actors on institutions and policies. Two panels specifically covered studies on the radical right beyond the Western world and the international dimension of radicalization and extremism.

As section organizers, we were overwhelmed by the positive experiences and feedback we received during the conference and in between the panels. The enormous demand for an offline conference motivated us to set up all our panels primarily as offline panels, with the option for presenters, chairs, discussants, and for the general audience to join virtually. We were also overwhelmed by how well the individual panels were organized. A big thank you goes especially to the local organizing committee and to the many study assistants and support staff in every room, without whom the ECPR General Conference could not have taken place. Likewise, we would like to express our sincere thanks to all the panel chairs for organizing their panels and all the discussants who invested

their time and efforts into providing helpful feedback. A special and heartfelt thank you goes to the Steering Committee of the Extremism & Democracy Standing Group, Léonie de Jonge, Daphne Halikiopoulou, and Annika Werner, for their constant support before, during, and after the General Conference and their tireless efforts to make this section happen. It was a pleasure to see you all in Innsbruck, and we look forward to seeing you again in Prague in 2023.

Extremism & Democracy Standing Group Business Meeting

University of Innsbruck, Austria 25 August 2022 #ecprgc22 Léonie de Jonge University of Groningen Daphne Halikiopoulou University of Reading Annika Werner Australian National University

Agenda

1. Introduction of Extremism & Democracy SG 2. Opportunities for 2023 3. Medium-term opportunities: SG-based conference

1. Introduction of Extremism & Democracy SG

• Welcome on behalf of the Steering Committee. • Today the SG consist of 469 members.

2. Opportunities for 2023

• SG Best Paper Prize - the SG discussed the possibility to establish a Best Paper Prize from the next General Conference onwards. The idea was well received, but more planning from the SG is needed to establish the exact criteria. Any additional thoughts and comments beyond the SG meeting are welcome.

• ECPR Bonus Fund for 2022 – deadline Monday, 19 September 2022. The grant aims to support Standing Groups and Research Networks embarking on a large-scale research project. Details can be found here: https://ecpr.eu/Content.aspx?ID=810

3. Medium-term opportunities: SG-based conference

• Since we are slowly "outgrowing" the ECPR General Conference in terms of SG-size, there was a discussion about the possibility of establishing a separate SG-based conference. There were mixed responses to this idea. While some people felt that it would be useful to have a more intimate space to meet and discuss work in progress, others argued that some might not be willing and/or able to attend both conferences, which could create a split within the SG. This is an ongoing discussion, so any thoughts or comments are welcome.