Europe's Democratic Future: Insights from 2025 Symposium

Envisioning Democratic Futures, Spring 2025 Symposium

Europe’s Democratic Future: 2025 Spring Symposium Highlights

The Clough Center’s panel, “How democratic will Europe be tomorrow?” discussed challenges to democracy in Europe, including border security, economic stagnation, and the rise of far-right parties. Speakers emphasized the urgency of preventing extremism, the importance of security for democracy, and Russia’s detrimental influence on European stability and economics.

2–4 minutes

Last Spring, the Clough Center hosted a panel entitled “How democratic will Europe be tomorrow?” to explore the challenges of democracy in Europe. As part of the 2025 Spring Symposium on March 21-22, this panel featured Jytte Klausen (Political Science, Brandeis University), Spencer Boyer (formerly of the State Department), and Bryn Rosenfeld (Political Science, Cornell University). Mary C. Murphy (Political Science, Boston College) served as the moderator of the panel. This panel discussed border security, low economic growth, and the rise of the far-right as three main challenges to a democratic Europe.

Four panelists stand together in a room, engaged in a discussion about democracy in Europe. They are dressed in business attire, with two women on the left wearing glasses and the other two, a man and a woman, on the right. The room features light-colored walls and a wooden table. — Left to Right: Marcy C. Murphy, Jytte Klausen, Spencer Boyer, Bryn Roesenfeld

Murphy started the discussion and noted that the main objective of this panel was to analyze the status of democracy in the continent of Europe broadly, and the challenges that the European Union faces on this matter. For example, one of the main issues that the European Union deals with is the growth of far-right parties, based on the polls and recent election results across the continent.

Klausen pointed out that what is now urgent for the status of democracy in Europe is to keep the continent out of the war [the Russia-Ukraine War] and prevent the rise of the far-right. She mentioned that extremist parties of the far-right are not necessarily in the same club, but they share an opposition to liberty, personal rights, and equality. According to Klausen, the extremist parties that are regarded as far-right tend to employ intimidation and violence. Klausen added that the rise of the far-right, to a certain extent, is rooted in the fragmentation of the European institutions, which is caused by a persistent pattern of low economic growth over the past years. This has laid the groundwork for the growth of anti-EU figures such as Marine Le Pen in France, who advocates leaving the European Union. We are currently witnessing the formation of a coalition of far-right parties in Europe that support this anti-EU approach.

Following Klausen, Spencer Boyer emphasized the significance of security for economic prosperity and thriving democracy. Boyer underscored the threats to democracy in Europe from external actors, chief among them, Russia. Moreover, he said, there is an alarming increase in hybrid means of threat, such as cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns, and political interference. Boyer stated that the empowerment of transatlantic relationships is crucial for the future of democracy in Europe. Boyer also drew upon his recent speech at the Munich Security Conference regarding the Russia-Ukraine War.

Rosenfeld followed up Boyer’s discussion of security with two points about why Russia’s economy is not likely to be sustainable in the long term. First, she argued, as an autocracy, Russia tends to concentrate political and economic power in the hands of the state, which hinders productivity in the long term. Moreover, Russia’s state has to pay a lot of resources to co-opt and pay off its cronies. While Russia has experienced an increase in wages, Rosenfeld explained, the improvement is largely due to a labor shortage, as many men are fighting in the ongoing war.

Secondly, according to Rosenfeld, autocracies usually have an information problem, which causes miscalculations in their decisions and policies because everyone fears bringing negative news to the dictator. For example, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a miscalculation, given the war’s long-term impact on the Russian economy.

You can watch the full video of the panel discussions, including the Q&A conversations, via the link below on the Clough Center’s YouTube Channel.