Constitutional Self-Defense and Rights Restructuring in 12 European Countries

This 23-year longitudinal study by Nicole Bolleyer (Perspectives on Politics) tracks legal changes in association, assembly, and expression across 12 European countries. It categorizes legal provisions using a framework that distinguishes between defensive and illiberal rights restructuring to assess democratic erosion.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in 'association' and 'assembly' regulations to identify shifts toward illiberal governance
• Comparing 'expression' restrictions across 12 European nations to measure democratic resilience
• Applying the 'defensive logic' vs 'illiberal logic' labels to model the probability of democratic erosion in specific jurisdictions

Strengths

• 23-year longitudinal coverage of legal changes
• Comparative data spanning 12 distinct European countries
• Expert-coded framework for distinguishing between defensive and illiberal legal provisions

Limitations

• Geographic bias restricted to the European context
• Thematic scope limited to three specific rights: association, assembly, and expression
• Small country-level sample size (N=12) may limit generalizability to other democratic regions

Provenance

Source

Nicole Bolleyer, Perspectives on Politics

Collection Method

Expert annotation and legal analysis

Time Range

23-year period (ending 2026)

Freshness

Last updated March 2026

Geography

12 European countries