VIGONI LAB

The Vigoni Lab- Perspectives on Politics and Society is an academic network that aims to promote comparative studies in the fields of political science and the history of international relations between Italy and Germany, within the context of European integration. In particular, the working group emerged from the need to thoroughly investigate the state of democracy in Europe, which has been undergoing significant changes over the past few decades. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, democracy in Europe in fact experienced a phase of expansion, culminating in the accession of various Central and Eastern European countries ― formerly members of the Warsaw Pact ― to the EU. The consolidation of democracy after 1989 represented the apex phase of the third wave of democratisation theorized by Samuel P. Huntington. As was the case with the first and second waves of democratisation, the third wave was followed by a reverse process, thus linked to a series of political events that took place in the EU Member States, but also had clear effects on a supranational level. One might consider, for instance, Brexit, the question of the rule of law within the Union, the emergence of new nationalisms or, more generally, the transformation of the nation-state in Europe.