In his presentation, Erik Zignaigo will explore how radical right movements in Italy and Germany have responded to democracy protection measures introduced in the aftermath of the 2009 economic crisis. By referring to the Italian and German cases, this research intends to investigate the reaction of the radical right to democracy protection measures. Both countries have a considerable
spectrum of democracy protection measures in their set of rules and political practices.
Moreover, they experienced great political consequences following the 2009 economic crisis: in
particular, new parties and leaderships incarnating the radical right gained electoral support
and used it to put into question the foundations of liberal democracy. In response, the Italian
and German states enforced a wide range of democracy protection measures to protect the
liberal democratic order. By analyzing the reactions of the radical right to such measures, the research proposes to adopt an innovative perspective on the studies on the relation between the
radical right and liberal democracy.
