Introduction

Democracy in Europe appears to be in crisis. There are deep concerns about the relationship between democracy and free market capitalism in the wake of the recent economic recession. Political parties are facing declining membership, voter volatility, and changing modes of political participation, whereas politicians are finding it increasingly difficult to build coalitions in a fragmented and polarized political landscape. Most notably, the rise of new parties, often labelled as populist, is posing a challenge to governability and, more importantly, to the consensus among political elites on the principles of democracy.1 All these developments are perceived as signs that the ‘golden age’ of democracy enjoyed in the decades following the Second World War is over and that this political model is now in steep decline.