Democracy is faltering around the world. Fragile democratic countries are collapsing, authoritarian regimes are growing even more repressive — and the threat has now reached our part of the world, where liberal democracy has been taken for granted. For a long time, the collapse of democracy was seen as the result of abrupt military coups. But today, the pattern looks different. Democratic backsliding now happens from within the political system itself, driven by democratically elected leaders who gradually erode norms and institutional safeguards until there are few limits left on their power. How to counter illiberalism in liberal democracies? When majority rule becomes a threat to liberal democracy? What risks threaten Finland’s liberal democracy?
The research project “Resilience of Liberal Democracy in Finland (RESLIDE)” is funded by The Strategic Research Council (SRC).
Programme:
Opening remarks: Presentation of RESLIDE consortium
Åsa von Schoultz, Professor of Political Science, University of Helsinki
Keynote address: Countering illiberalism in liberal democracies: Information, Legacies, Temporalities
Giovanni Capoccia, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford
Panel discussion: Liberal democracy under siege
Tuija Brax, Director, Rule of Law Center, University of Helsinki
Inga Saikkonen, Senior University Lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
Giovanni Capoccia, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford
Moderator: Juha Jokela, Programme Director, FIIA
It is possible to follow the event livestreamed at Think Corner Stage’s website.
Puhujat
Professor of Political Science, University of Helsinki
Åsa von Schoultz holds the Swedish Chair in Political Science at the University of Helsinki. She is an expert in public opinion and political behaviour, with a research focus on the views of citizens and political elites on democratic processes and representation, candidate voting, and intra-party competition. She has extensive experience in leading and developing research infrastructures for electoral studies and public opinion research, and serves in leadership roles across several research organisations.
Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford
Giovanni Capoccia is Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, where he is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College.
His current research focuses on democratic self-defense against illiberal and anti-democratic forces. He also has a strong interest in political institutions, democratization, transitional justice, and historical approaches to the study of politics—fields in which he has published extensively. His writing primarily examines the politics of advanced democracies, particularly in Europe.
Director, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
With extensive experience in legal and governmental roles, Tuija Brax has played a pivotal role in shaping Finland’s legislative landscape. As Minister of Justice, she was instrumental in the drafting of key legislative acts, including Finland’s current Constitution, the Act on a Candidate’s Election Funding, and the Emergency Powers Act. During her tenure as a Member of Parliament, Tuija chaired both the Legal Affairs and Audit Committees and served multiple terms on the Constitutional Law Committee. In August 2021, she took on the role of Director at the Rule of Law Centre at the University of Helsinki, following her work as Secretary General of the Finnish Heart Association
Senior University Lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
Inga Saikkonen works as a Senior University Lecturer at Åbo Akademi University. She holds a PhD from the University of Oxford, and has previously been a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University and worked as a Academy Research Fellow at Åbo Akademi University. Her areas of expertise are related to democratic norms, comparative authoritarian politics and non-democratic behaviour.
Programme Director, FIIA
Juha Jokela is the Programme Director of the European Union and strategic competition research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Jokela’s previous academic and policy studies projects and publications include the EU’s sanctions policy, political implications of Brexit for the EU, political and security developments in the Arctic, Europeanisation of foreign policy, EU’s Asia relations, and Finland’s EU policy. His current research interests include differentiated integration in EU’s foreign policy, and the role of G7 and G20 in multilateral cooperation.
Jokela has previously worked at the EU Institute for Security Studies as a Senior Associated Analyst and Senior Visiting Research Fellow, as an Advisor at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and as a Research Fellow and the Director of the Network for European Studies at the University of Helsinki. Jokela is a member of the board of Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA), member of the Steering Committee of EuroMesCo, the main network of research centres and think-tanks in the Euro-Mediterranean area, and member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP).
Jokela holds a PhD from the University of Bristol (UK), which focused on Europeanisation and foreign policy in Finland and the UK, and a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Birmingham (UK).