Even as the most unsettling threat to European democracies appears to be coming from across the Atlantic, within the continent there has been for almost a decade the growing specter of right-wing nationalists gaining control of power in once stable democracies. While analysts offer numerous explanations for the growth in internal support for what often manifest as anti-democratic movements, a key causal fabric weaves together a variety of economic and social anxieties and frustrations—including inflation, war in Europe, immigration policies and the economic shock from the Covid pandemic1—leading to growing distrust of political leaders. This disillusionment affords space for voters to embrace more direct, often radical changes to the governance systems that surround them and the democratic institutions that underpin them.