Ahead of the US midterms

As the United States approaches the decisive phase of the 2026 midterm elections, the political climate is shaped by overlapping international crises, a news cycle fuelled by presidential provocation, and mounting pressure on democratic institutions from within. This moment offers an opportunity to step back from the daily news cycle and take stock: What is the state of US democracy under a second Trump administration and the broader MAGA movement? Where is resistance from the Democratic Party as well as from activists and NGOs working, where is it failing, and what can European progressives genuinely learn from those approaches? How can we improve transatlantic cooperation and exchange between progressive actors to defend our democracies? 

As part of this roundtable, Cas Mudde, one of the world’s leading scholars on the far right and on populism, will deliver a keynote on the causes and current state of democratic backsliding in the United States, the modes of resistance and resilience that have proven effective (and those that have not), and the lessons for Europe’s defence of liberal democracy against far-right pressure. 

The event takes place as a closed-door roundtable, designed to enable a frank exchange among S&D MEPs in a small circle. It continues an ongoing effort to create a dedicated space for substantive discussion on protecting and renewing democracy, with a focus both on analysing far-right parties and movements and, crucially, on developing progressive strategies that are not merely reactive but genuinely proactive.

For more information regarding this event, please contact Matteo Dressler, Policy Analyst on Democracy and Participation (matteo.dressler@feps-europe.eu) and Julia Wild, FEPS Project Officer (julia.wild@feps-europe.eu).