Introduction

Illiberalism is increasingly often mentioned among the key threats faced by contemporary liberal democracies, typically alongside populism, right-wing nationalism, democratic backsliding, polarization, or hate speech. Yet, while other threats to democratic institutions and values attracted significant scholarly attention, illiberalism remains poorly defined, and the communication perspective on illiberalism is particularly underdeveloped. This introductory chapter sets out the rationale for developing a set of conceptual tools that can help us examine what happens to public communication after populism becomes a widespread feature of political life, and especially after far right or ultraconservative political actors have successfully mobilized populist strategies to rise to positions of power. To help develop such tools, this book introduces the concept of the illiberal public sphere, defined as a communicative space comprising both traditional and new media that promote and amplify illiberal actors, views, and attitudes. After a brief outline of the concept, this chapter first reviews the key causes of the decline of liberal democracy and situates them vis-à-vis developments in the sphere of communication. It then proceeds with a brief discussion of Eastern Europe as a ‘laboratory of illiberalism’, and an outline of the chapters that follow.