also need to fight the so-called culture wars. Questions of equality and inclusion are fundamental questions of social justice. Too often, social democratic parties in par­ticular shy away from these questions. They wish they would just go away and believe that if politics was only about pensions, labour markets and minimum wages, they would start winning elections again. In the mean­time, they let anti-feminist, anti-queer and»anti-woke« positioning dominate the agenda. But unless political ac­tors fight the fight, how are civil society organisations supposed to do it? Without arguments and clear stances in favour of diversity and inclusion, how can we expect young people to embrace progressive politics? Progres­sive parties need to change existing institutions and start believing they can change minds again. The only way to reverse the vicious cycle of radical right politics is to set in motion a virtuous cycle of progressive politics. About the author Tarik Abou-Chadi is Professor of European Politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College. Before joining Oxford, he was Assistant Professor at the depart­ment of political science at the University of Zurich. He holds a PhD from Hum­boldt University Berlin. About Brussels Democracy Dialogue The Brussels Democracy Dialogue(BDD) is a high-level platform for exchanging progressive ideas and proposals to address the many challenges facing democracies today. Organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, it was originally held in Hambach, Germany, as the Hambach Democracy Dialogue(HDD). Since 2024, the conference has taken place in Brussels, bringing together around 100 progressive democracy ex­perts from politics, academia, trade unions, and civil society across Europe and be­yond. Its aim is to challenge our established explanations and to offer new and inno­vative solutions that enable progressive actors to successfully confront the recent global trend of democratic backsliding and to defend social democracy. References Abou-Chadi, Tarik. 2016.»Niche Party Success and Mainstream Party Policy Shifts – How Green and Radical Right Parties Differ in Their Impact.« British Journal of Politi­cal Science 46(2): 417–436. Abou-Chadi, Tarik, Denis Cohen, and Markus Wagner. 2022.»The centre-right versus the radical right: the role of migration issues and economic grievances.« Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 48(2): 366–384. Abou-Chadi, Tarik, and Werner Krause. 2020.»The Causal Effect of Radical Right Success on Mainstream Parties’ Policy Positions. A Regression Discontinuity Ap­proach.« British Journal of Political Science 50(3): 829–847. Krause, Werner, Denis Cohen, and Tarik Abou-Chadi. 2023.»Does accommodation work? Mainstream party strategies and the success of radical right parties.« Political Science Research and Methods 11(1): 172–179. Lenz, Gabriel S. 2012. Follow the leader? How voters respond to politicians’ policies and performance. Chicago Studies in American Politics. Chicago, London: The Uni­versity of Chicago Press. Valentim, Vicente, Elias Dinas, and Daniel Ziblatt. 2025.»How Mainstream Politici­ans Erode Norms.« British Journal of Political Science 55.1 Imprint Published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Godesberger Allee 149 53175 Bonn Germany info@fes.de Issuing Department Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung| Democracy of the Future| Reichsratsstr. 13/5| 1010 Vienna| Austria info.vienna@fes.de Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung| European Union& Global Dialogue| Brussels Office| Rue du Taciturne 38| 1000 Brussels| Belgium https://brussels.fes.de/ Responsibility for Content Filip Milačić, FES Democracy of the Future, Vienna Contact: filip.milacic@fes.de Contact democracydialogue@fes.de Design/Layout pertext| corporate publishing www.pertext.de The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES). Commercial use of media published by the FES is not permitted without the written con­sent of the FES. Publications by the FES may not be used for electioneering purposes. Dezember 2025 © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: ↗ www.fes.de/publikationen FES Democracy of the Future, Vienna FES EU Office Brussels