Introducing Bridging in Practice: Initiatives that Counter Authoritarian Populism and Build Democracies Rooted in Belonging

In 2025, the advancement of movements rooted in exclusion and othering seems relentless. Authoritarian populist leaders across Europe and North America, from the United States to Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Italy, continue to accrue political victories and to mobilize large swathes of the public. At the time of this writing, measures that years ago seemed unconscionable—even unthinkable—are advancing forcefully, whether it is the deployment of the national guard in Washington DC or European Union leaders from mainstream parties advocating for “return hubs” for asylum-seekers.

Changes in political orders are not unprecedented; they are part of the course of history. Yet today we are witnessing a troubling shift: instead of evolving toward more responsive, inclusive, and safe democracies, many societies are normalizing authoritarian practices—practices that erode democratic accountability and curtail rights and freedoms, disproportionately targeting specific groups in ways that further aggravate exclusionary, if not violent, tendencies of the past and reinforce structural marginality. These developments are justified in the name of “democracy,” but it is democracy in name only, grounded in an ever-narrower definition of demos—of who counts as “the people” and who belongs.

According to V-Dem’s latest research, 2025 marks 25 years of autocratization: for the first time in 20 years, the world has fewer democracies than autocracies, with three out of four people now living in autocracies. Nowadays, the favorite weapons of autocratizers are media censorship, followed by undermining elections and civil society. IDEA’s work is consistent with these findings, “Representation, Rights, Rule of Law and Participation—the four pillars of democracy—are under strain, with unprecedented global declines in judicial independence, press freedom and electoral integrity.” 

Yet confronted with this difficult atmosphere, many remain undeterred, as the authors in this series prove. Across countries and sectors, many individuals, groups, and organizations, remain steadfast in their commitment to democratic principles; principles that have never been fully realized, but that are nonetheless still worth aspiring to. Belonging without othering is today an aspiration, but one worth fighting for. This dream of a future where everyone has a place and a role, regardless of their identity, requires bridging—leaning into conflict and discomfort—as the authors in this series teach us. 

In this series, we bring together articles from bridging practitioners from across Europe and North America. The authors share in common a belief that a better world, and democracies that come closer to the aspiration of belonging, are possible. They have in common that they are both dreamers and doers.

At the same time, many of the interventions that we will be sharing showcase significant differences—even, at times, contradictory approaches. We believe this reflects a complex, uncertain, and volatile reality that requires an ecosystemic vision and multiple interventions, which will hopefully deliver collective strength. It is necessary to counter authoritarian populism and engage in the work of bridging and belonging in myriad ways. Exploration and failure will, inevitably, be part of the journey. 

We asked the authors to explain the what and the how of their work and also to lean in into challenges and obstacles—as we believe that this moment of democratic erosion requires not only a multitude of different perspectives and approaches, but also the humility to understand what does not work and how we grow from failures.

In the article that starts this series, Dr. Josef Merk helps us imagine a mode of politics that is connecting and regenerative rather than polarizing and exhausting, through the example of the  »Speaking & Listening« dialogue format from the German NGO Mehr Demokratie e. V.. Their initiative, practised across Germany, is designed to create experiences of truly being heard, a necessary precursor to bridging across differences. 

In her piece, Ieva Česnulaitytė explores citizens’ assemblies as a bridging practice that strengthens the resilience of democratic systems, which she illuminates with case studies from Hungary, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Examples that demonstrate how such processes can create belonging rooted in connection, agency, and dignity, even in contexts shaped by authoritarian populism, war, or historical trauma.

Ekaterina Chigaleichik and Tatevik Ghukasyan share with us the NoBorderSpace project, which implemented a program for dialogue, social depolarisation, and collective reflection on war and historical memory in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with young professionals coming from Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. 

Vlad Sakovich introduces us to the practice of Worldwork, also known as Open Forums—a facilitation methodology for civic dialogue and bridging across societal divides in times of crisis, which he has applied in Russia. What’s fascinating of Worldwork is that rather than attempting to resolve or stay clear of conflict, it leans into it. In the author’s words, “Worldwork does not suppress conflict but instead embraces it as a means to deepen understanding, shift perspectives, and uncover shared ground.”

In their respective articles, both Rachael Reichenbach and Adrienne Evans, and Sarah Nilsson Dolah show us how to build long bridges across divides that may seem to many to be “too extreme,” through practical examples from organizations that do so in Idaho, U.S., and in Sweden respectively. They emphasise how important it is that no one be left at the margins. 

Mayra Alejandra Margffoy Tuay walks us through the hard but essential task of organizing amongst activists and the wider community, by sharing the inspiring efforts of the movement RegularizaciónYa! in Spain. Mayra shares the lessons of how this anti-racist and self-organized movement leveraged Spain's civic participatory mechanisms to deliver over 700,000 citizen signatures to Congress, advocating for the extraordinary regularization of around 500,000 migrants who face systemic inequality, discrimination, and violence. 

Finally, Julia Roig and Andrew Regalado from the Horizons Project explore the practical challenges of convening and facilitating a “Big Tent” group of organizations and networks from across the pro-democracy ecosystem. As they state, though we know that we need to be organizing across different sectors, geographies, ideologies and generations in this moment of authoritarian resurgence,  it is much easier said than done. This article will share some lessons learned not on why “Big Tent” formations are needed to fight for democracy, but on how we do it.

Faced with rising authoritarianism, it has almost become cliché to quote Hannah Arendt on totalitarianism. Her work on the human condition is perhaps less well-known but equally pertinent. Arendt identified action as one of the three fundamental human activities, with action defined as humans’ ability to create something new. This creative capacity emerges even in the darkest times and inevitably connects to plurality and the relationships we have with each other. For Arendt, action and plurality are inseparable—plurality is the condition of all political life, “plurality is the condition of human action because we are all the same, that is, human, in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anyone else who ever lived, lives, or will live.” 

The examples, the interventions, the efforts in this collection reflect that pluralistic condition of action: They all aim to create something new, not the simple defense of the status quo or the return to a better past that benefited some while leaving others behind (notably, racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities, as well as the economically vulnerable). This collection of papers shares efforts to create a better kind of society that respects plurality and claims a collective sense of responsibility, both from political institutions and within the public world; a society that cultivates a shared sense of responsibility and belonging to each other.

Credits:

Míriam Juan-Torres, Managing Editor

Yvette Tetteh, Contributing Editor