Boris Vormann is Professor of Politics and Director of the Politics Section at Bard College Berlin. His research focuses on the role of the state in globalization and urbanization processes; nations and nationalism; and the crisis of democracy. His most recent books are Democracy in Crisis: The Neoliberal Roots of Popular Unrest (with Christian Lammert, 2019),and Contours of the Illiberal State (2019).

Michael Weinmanis Professor of Philosophy at Bard College Berlin. He is the author of three books, most recently, The Parthenon and Liberal Education (2018, co-authored with Geoff Lehman), and the editor (with Shai Biderman) of Plato and the Moving Image (2019). His research focuses on Greek philosophy, political philosophy, and their intersection.

Part 1: Democracy, Contested: Causes of Illiberalism 1. From a Politics of No Alternative to a Politics of Fear 2. What does a Legitimation Crisis Mean Today? 3. Illiberal Democracy and the Struggle on the Right 4. Illiberal Democracy? A Tocquevillian Perspective 5. The Open Society from a Conservative Perspective 6. The Failing Technocratic Prejudice and the Challenge to Liberal Democracy Part 2: Democracy, Distorted: Cases of Illiberalism 7. Global Trumpism: Understanding Anti-System Politics in Western Democracies 8. The Crisis of Democracy: The United States in Perspective 9. The European Union and Its Chances for Democratic Revitalization 10. Eastern Europe's Illiberal Revolution 11. Illiberal Democracy or Electoral Autocracy: The Case of Turkey 12. India's Unofficial Emergency 13. Japan: Land of the Rising Right 14. "It's all corrupt": The Roots of Bolsonarism in Brazil Part 3: Epilogue: Persevering through a Crisis of Conviction 15. Populism and Democracy: The Long View