The Law and Politics of Protecting Liberal Democracy

Celebrating liberal democracy and asking hard questions about its future

A student conference at the University of Groningen, 24 June 2022. Our second event, and our biggest yet.

In June 2022, ahead of Professor John Morijn's inaugural lecture at the University of Groningen, we organised a full-day student conference to go deeper into the theory, the politics, and the lived reality of protecting liberal democracy in Europe.

The questions we put on the table were deliberately uncomfortable: Why do people vote for illiberal politicians? What does judicial solidarity across borders actually look like? What is the specific role of young people and of women in this fight? Around 200 students and professionals came to find out.

The programme

Five panels, three rooms, one day. The conversations covered:

Why people vote for illiberals and what it takes for them to stop – Kim Lane Scheppele, Adam Bodnar, Wojciech Sadurski, Jakub Jaraczewski, Akudo McGee
Women on the frontlines – Sophie in 't Veld, Marta Pardavi, Petra Bard, Radosveta Vassileva
Judicial independence and solidarity across borders – Laurent Pech, Tamara Trotman, Tomasz Posłuszny
Passing the torch to the next generation: rule of law for Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z – Kim Lane Scheppele, Adam Bodnar, Tomasz Posłuszny, Akudo McGee
Uniting NGOs, academia and politics towards a coordinated response – Laurent Pech, Sophie in 't Veld, Marta Pardavi, Jakub Jaraczewski