PERSPECTIVE Democratic Expeditions Rejecting the far-right: lessons for defending democracy Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser Summary Drawing on empirical evidence from both Europe and Latin America, this contribution shows that while the far right has gained electoral ground, it also faces per­sistently high rejection rates. Roughly half of the voting public oppose it. This twin dynamic of growth and re­sistance makes the far right a polarising force. The ­contribution then turns to the question of how best to confront it. It advances six lessons: recognising the di­versity of far-right opponents and tailoring strategies accordingly; grounding debates in empirical data rather than moralising rhetoric; avoiding reactive engagement with far-right agendas; clarifying progressive positions in accessible language; challenging the misconception that the far right grows at the expense of the left rather than the mainstream right; and consistently defending democracy against authoritarian threats from any polit­ical camp. The far right: loved by some, but rejected by many The far right is scarcely new. Historically, the emblematic example is of course National Socialism in Germany, but even at that time there were other far right actors across much of Europe and beyond. From the Second World War onward, however, these actors lost ground while mainstream centre-right parties were strengthened, playing a key role in the consolidation of democracy in postwar Europe. In fact, the proper functioning of democracy requires mainstream right parties, which channel the preferences of those who share right-wing ideas and – unlike the far right – are willing to respect the rules of liberal democracy(Bale and Rovira Kaltwasser 2021; Ziblatt 2017). When mainstream(centre) right parties either do not exist or mutate into far-right forces, the likelihood of gradual democratic erosion in­creases dramatically. Progressively, from the 1980s onward, new far-right forma ­tions began to gain ground in Western Europe and later in Eastern Europe(Mudde 2007; 2019). These new parties dif ­fer from the old far right in that they claim nominally to support the democratic system and thus do not oppose electoral competition. Nonetheless, empirical evidence Rejecting the far right: lessons for defending democracy 1