Save the People! Elite-People Rela;ons and the Surge of Na;onalism and Right-Wing Populism across Europe

Building upon the theories of nationalism and populism and the most recent contributions on the topic, the article reflects on the spread of right-wing populism and nationalism all across Europe. It first examines possible endogenous and exogenous factors responsible for the so-called 'democratic backslide' among the Central and Eastern European (cee) countries, while then it looks at the Western European states and the tendency to 'come back to the national dimension' at the expense of supra-national commitments. By reflecting on the European democracies and the 'populist zeitgeist', the article adopts a relational approach and suggests that, in virtue of supra-national shocks and domestic issues, the elite and the people together are tailoring a new understanding and functioning of democracy- A s demand and supply of illiberal-prone policies are increasingly seen as the ultimate realisation of the people's will, legit measures advocated and supplied in the name of democracy itself.