Chairs
Roberto Gargarella; Indira Latorre; Felipe Rey; Anna Luisa Walter de Santana; Jorge Ernesto Roa Roa

Resilience has emerged as a pervasive “buzzword” within political and constitutional theory—an intellectual trend searching for ways out of democracy’s ongoing crisis. Appropriated from the physical sciences, the concept has been stretched and reshaped to encompass a vast array of phenomena—at times incomparable, often disconnected—through which scholars and institutions strive to arrest democratic erosion.

Yet powerful voices question whether democracy can ever truly be resilient. Conversely, there exists a body of documented instances in which institutions—courts, for instance—have successfully withstood systemic threats to the democratic order. Those who maintain that democratic resilience is a myth are not necessarily cynics; rather, they adopt a realist posture, acknowledging the distinct possibility of democratic collapse or the formidable obstacles to its reconstruction.

By contrast, those who highlight success stories are not naïve optimists, but researchers armed with empirical evidence demonstrating that the institutional tools needed to defend democracy do exist—it is merely a matter of mobilising them.

This workshop situates itself at the heart of this tension. We intend to pose the uncomfortable questions. Our aim is to debate democracy’s capacity for resistance, the foundations of political realism, and the potential for reimagining social and political organisation.

We will confront narratives of collapse and resurgence, examine failures and triumphs, and consider which institutions—from courts to citizens’ assemblies—might rekindle a more hopeful vision of deliberative democracy.

We invite scholars, practitioners, and critical thinkers to submit papers that challenge assumptions, expose vulnerabilities, and propose innovative strategies. We welcome case studies, theoretical provocations, and bold accounts of both threats and defences. The defence of democracy begins with identifying its most sophisticated risks—and imagining novel ways to overcome them.