Summer School on 'Democratic Backsliding and Political Conflict'

Organized by the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Scuola Normale Superiore in collaboration with the European University Institute of Fiesole (European Governance and Politics Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies), the School is funded by the PNRR through the MERITA, the network for talent project*, and by the EUI Widening Europe Programme. 
 
Time: 27 September - 30 September 2025
Location: Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona, Cortona (Arezzo) and European University Institute, Villa Schifanoia, Florence
Contacts: Prof. Manuela Caiani (manuela.caiani@sns.it), Lorenzo Cicchi (lorenzo.cicchi@eui.eu)
Deadline for applications: 30 July 2025, 5 PM CEST (UTC+2)  
 
The Scuola Normale Superiore (Italy) invites applications from doctoral students for the 2025 Ph.D. School on Democratic Backsliding and Political Conflict. The PhD School will be held at the Palazzone di Cortona, one of the sites of the Scuola Normale Superiore, in the small town of Cortona in southern Tuscany, Italy and at the European University Institute (planeary session only). The school will take place from September 27-30 2025.
 
Description
The Phd School will offer an invaluable opportunity for young scholars to explore the complexities and challenges of democratic erosion across different regions (and their resistance) from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Studies of political participation and mobilisation are increasingly focusing on democratic regression and the political actors (far right political parties, reactionary social movement organizations, ‘movement-parties’, etc.) who act as ‘entrepreneurs’ of it. The same is true of public opinion, electoral and party politics studies, which increasingly focus on the norms, values, opinions, attitudes that might embed it and the mechanisms of regressive orientations of society and collective political actors and policy makers. This also poses important methodological challenges that go beyond the analytical ones, in terms of reflecting on the research methods that are better suited to capturing these current trends in the European and global spheres. The Internet and social media are also part of the story, including various processes they mediate.

To explore the contextual, meso-organisational and micro-level attitudinal and value characteristics that accompany and sustain democratic backsliding in online campaigning, contentious politics, political participation and elections, this PhD school will focus on several key themes and methods: social movements and collective actors, identities and networks on the regressive side; the intersection of media and democratic backsliding, focusing on how the erosion of press freedoms plays a crucial role in undermining democratic institutions; comparative analyses of Eastern European democracies, including the role of civil society and grassroots movements in resisting democratic decline; how political elites and state institutions may contribute to or combat backsliding; the impact of European Union policies on democratic resilience, examining how EU membership can both support and constrain democratic reforms in member states, as well as the emergence of new arenas of democratic backsliding, such as legal mobilisations against the rule of law. Together, their diverse perspectives will provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the multifaceted dynamics of democratic backsliding, offering both theoretical frameworks and practical approaches for addressing these issues. This Phd School will engage participants from a variety of academic disciplines, ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to understanding democratic erosion. It welcomes papers on geographical areas and actors that are underrepresented in current research and media coverage.
 
Application procedure
The PhD School will be advertised through a competitive international call. The PhD School is open to 25 Ph.D. researchers. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a short cover letter (no more than 1 page) outlining how their research focus fits with the topic of the PhD School and how participation in the school would benefit their research. These materials should be submitted as one PDF by sending an email to Prof. Manuela Caiani (manuela.caiani@sns.it) and Lorenzo Cicchi (lorenzo.cicchi@eui.eu) before July 30, 2025. Accepted candidates will be notified no later than 10 August 2025.

Enrolment fees, accommodation and location
There are no enrolment fees. The organisers will assist in providing accommodation in either single or double rooms in hotels in Cortona and Florence. Travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the stay need to be covered by the participants, except for students covered by the ‘EUI Widening Programme scholarship’, (more information on the EUI Widening Programme can be found here). Lunch, the two social dinners and coffee breaks are covered by the School. Cortona is a small town in the South of Tuscany, Italy, in easy reach by train from Florence or Rome. Classes will take place in the same location.

Programme of the PhD School
The PhD School consists of three days with lectures (5 lectures) by prominent scholars in the field of political science, political sociology, and communication studies, and sessions on feedback of students projects/papers presentations in the afternoon (3 Feedback Sessions). The students will have a theoretical session and a more applied session on their projects/methodological session every day. Students will also get feedback from experts in the field about their own research projects.

Saturday, 27 September - European University Institute, Villa Schifanoia, Florence 
14.00 – 14.30    Welcome coffee
14.30 – 15.00    Introductory remarks and practical information, Sala Europa, Villa Schifanoia, European University Institute (Erik Jones, Lorenzo Cicchi, Manuela Caiani)
15.00 – 17.00    Plenary session with keynote speech: The Risks of backsliding within the EU | Prof. R. Daniel Kelemen, Georgetown University.
Discussant: Veronica Anghel, European University Institute (EUI)
19.30     Social Dinner (location TBC, Florence downtown)

Sunday, 28 September - Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
9.00                   Transfer by bus to Cortona (meeting point: Florence downtown)
11.00                  Arrival and transfer to participants’ hotels
From 13.00: a lunchbox will be available for participants at the Palazzone of Cortona
14.00 – 14.30    Welcome and practical information in Cortona (Manuela Caiani, Lorenzo Cicchi)
14.30 – 16.00    Lecture 1:  Lawyers in backsliding democracy | Prof. Scott Cummings, UCLA School of Law.
16.00 – 16.30    Break
16.30 – 18.30    Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.

Monday, 29 September 2025- Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
09.30 – 11.00    Lecture 2: Far Right Movements and ‘movement-parties’ | Prof.  Manuela Caiani (SNS).
11.00 – 11.30     Break
11.30 – 13.00    Lecture 3: Youth politics in the context of polarization and autocratization | Prof. Marjoke Oosterom, Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
13.00 – 14.30    Lunch
14.30 – 16.30    Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.
16.30 – 17.00     Break
17.00 – 18.30     Lecture 4: Monitoring Media Pluralism in the Digital Era | Iva Nenadic, European University Institute (EUI) & Media freedom and democratic backsliding | Maria Zuffova (EUI).

Tuesday, 30 September - Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzone di Cortona (AR)
09.30 – 11.00    Lecture 5: Democratic Struggles in Contested States | Prof. Jelena Dzankic, European University Institute (EUI).
11.00 – 11.30     Break
11.30 – 13.00    Feedback Session: students' presentations, 15’ each, and discussion. Parallel sessions can be organized.
13.00 – 14.30    Farewell lunch

End of the summer school and transfer by bus to Florence.

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* MERITA, the network for talent project is the result of a collaboration between five Italian academic institutions: the Scuola Normale Superiore, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, the Collegio Superiore dell’Università di Bologna, the Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori dell’Università di Padova and the Scuola Superiore di Studi Avanzati della Sapienza Università di Roma.
The MERITA project is funded within the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 – Istruzione e Ricerca, Componente 1, Investimento 3.4 "Didattica e competenze universitarie avanzate"- "Rafforzamento delle Scuole universitarie superiori". (National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 1, Investment 3.4 "Advanced university teaching and competences" - "Enhancement of the institutions for higher education").

Photo by Geoff Livingston via Flickr | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0