My guide to populist-proofing your democracy – before it’s too late | Timothy Garton Ash

10 hours ago7 min read6 comments

The enduring question of how to fortify democratic institutions against internal subversion has never been more urgent, a lesson driven home by the daily political theater of Donald Trump's continued influence. While much discourse focuses on preventing anti-liberal populists from attaining power, the more critical task is constructing a resilient democratic framework capable of surviving their tenure.Germany’s longstanding constitutional principle of *wehrhafte Demokratie*—a democracy capable of self-defense—is being tested as voices within the political establishment advocate for banning the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). This approach, however, is fundamentally flawed; it risks validating the very narrative of a corrupt elite conspiracy that the AfD peddles, thereby granting them a martyr’s halo and solidifying their support base.A parallel miscalculation is unfolding in France, where the strategy of a 'republican arc'—a broad coalition of parties united solely to block Marine Le Pen’s National Rally—has demonstrably backfired. Such a fragile, ideologically disparate alliance naturally struggles to enact substantive reform, leaving the National Rally to effectively critique the ensuing political paralysis from the sidelines.In contrast, the Dutch model offers a compelling, albeit nerve-wracking, case study in democratic resilience. There, Geert Wilders' inflammatory party was permitted to enter a coalition government, where its failure to deliver on populist promises and its subsequent decision to collapse the government by withdrawing from the coalition ultimately led to its narrow electoral defeat by a dynamic, liberal alternative led by Rob Jetten.This underscores a vital historical parallel: democracies are not weakened by confronting challengers within the system, but by refusing to trust their own institutional strength and the discernment of their electorate. The essential bulwarks—a fiercely independent judiciary, robust public service broadcasting, and a civil service insulated from political patronage—are not mere administrative details; they are the constitutional fortifications that allow a society to endure a populist storm without collapsing into authoritarianism. The lesson from Churchill’s era endures: the price of liberty is not just eternal vigilance against external threats, but the perpetual, meticulous reinforcement of the democratic edifice from within.

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