In recent years, the rise of authoritarian and populist tendencies within democracies once considered stable has become a matter of deep concern. Despite the urgency of this development, systematic knowledge of the underlying causes and the mechanisms capable of countering this development remains fragmented and incomplete. This points to a pressing need for reflection on what enables democracy to function and endure. The conference takes this challenge as its starting point. It seeks to identify the social, institutional, and normative foundations that sustain democratic governance and to explore how these can be strengthened. Therefore it seeks a dialog between political science, sociology, law, philosophy, and related disciplines to chart new pathways for the renewal of democracy.