Tackling an accellerating extremism and democratic resilience crisis

Why now

The foundations of Britain’s democratic resilience are under significant strain. Our research reveals a country marked by declining trust in institutions, deepening social fragmentation, contested national identity and a rising susceptibility to extremist and anti-democratic ideas.

This reality extends well beyond economic concern. A majority of Britons believe the social contract between citizens and the state has broken down. Trust in politicians and institutions has eroded significantly.  Support for conspiracy theories, ethnonationalist and extremist beliefs are growing.  Divisions about national identity, what it means to be British, and who that identity belongs to, has become a genuine fault line, not confined to any one political tribe, generation or region. 

At the same time, hostile states and domestic extremist movements are increasingly functioning within a mutually reinforcing ecosystem, exploiting the same grievances, narratives and moments of societal tension. They are exploiting Britain’s divisions and distrust of state institutions in an attempt to further unravel our democracy.  All of this is accelerated by a disordered information environment where disinformation, identity-based narratives and conspiracy theories are spreading rapidly.  Generative AI and asymmetric information warfare are likely to expedite these dynamics further.

This is having a dire consequence on our country.  From rising hate crime and public disorder on our streets, increasing antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and youth radicalisation, to worsening intimidation in public and civic life and declining social cohesion, many in our country feel fearful about the future of our plural democracy as these trends grow.  Our democratic freedoms, culture and rights and at risk of erosion.

For much of the post-war period, Britain's democratic institutions benefited from assumptions that no longer hold with the same certainty: that trust in institutions would broadly endure; that social cohesion would replenish itself; that extremist ideologies would remain confined to the political fringes; and that democratic norms, once established, would prove inherently resilient. It is clear that such assumptions can no longer be taken for granted.

We believe democracy does not maintain itself. It survives only because, generation after generation, enough of us choose to defend it, repair it and renew it, rather than let it crumble through neglect or be captured by those who would replace it with something harder, narrower and less democratic. 

That is why we are working in establishing this Centre.