Isabela Mares | Yale University
In her talk Isabela Mares offers a long run historical analysis of how mainstream parties attempt to curb the electoral advance of extremist competitors. Presenting a comprehensive typology of democratic defense strategies – systemic (change in electoral rules), collective (party and association bans), and individual (actions targeting specific politicians), she theorizes the partisan incentives that shape the choice among them. Evaluating propositions using historical and contemporary evidence from France and Germany, the findings show that the early deployment of systemic defenses, especially electoral reforms, create a more favorable terrain for democratic resilience. By contrast, individual tools – such as the removal of parliamentary immunity – remain politically underused, despite their potential, revealing missed opportunities for democratic actors.
