# When Extreme Goes Mainstream: Extremism and Democratic Involution

- Source: START (UMD)
- Published: 2026-10-19T09:53:30+00:00
- Category: Local
- Original: https://www.start.umd.edu/publication/when-extreme-goes-mainstream-extremism-and-democratic-involution
- Canonical: https://groundlevelnews.com/story/when-extreme-goes-mainstream-extremism-and-democratic-involution-2e94d3/

When Extreme Goes Mainstream: Extremism and Democratic Involution Abstract: Contemporary democracies are in a period of transition marked by polarization, erosion of shared norms, and the normalization of political extremism. This paper examines how extremism-traditionally understood as marginal, deviant, or pathological-comes to be mainstreamed within societies. Building on the tradition of the R

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