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The term "illiberal democracy" describes a governing system that hides its "nondemocratic practices behind formally democratic institutions and procedures".[1] There is a lack of consensus among experts about the exact definition of illiberal democracy or whether it even exists.[2]
The rulers of an illiberal democracy may ignore or bypass constitutional limits on their power.[3] While liberal democracies protect individual rights and freedoms, illiberal democracies do not.[4] Elections in an illiberal democracy are often manipulated or rigged, being used to legitimize and consolidate the incumbent rather than to choose the country's leaders and policies.[5]
According to jurist András Sajó, illiberal democracy should be counted as a type of democracy because it is "democratic in a plebiscitarian sense",[6] while political scientist Ulrich Wagrandl argues that "illiberal democracy is actually more true to democracy’s roots".[7] Other theorists say that classifying illiberal democracy as democratic is overly sympathetic to the illiberal regimes[8] and therefore prefer terms such as electoral authoritarianism,[9] competitive authoritarianism,[10] or soft authoritarianism.[11][12]
- ^ Bonet, Lluis; Zamorano, Mariano Martín (2021). "Cultural policies in illiberal democracies: a conceptual framework based on the Polish and Hungarian governing experiences". International Journal of Cultural Policy. 27 (5): 559–573. doi:10.1080/10286632.2020.1806829. S2CID 225285163.
- ^ Self, Darin (26 September 2022). "Illiberal Democracies and Democratic Backsliding". Oxford Bibliographies Online. doi:10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0352. ISBN 978-0-19-975622-3. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Mounk, Yascha (18 March 2020). The People Vs. Democracy - Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-24502-0.
- ^ Plattner, Marc F. (January 2019). "Illiberal Democracy and the Struggle on the Right". Journal of Democracy. 30 (1): 5–19. doi:10.1353/jod.2019.0000.
- ^ Nyyssönen, Heino; Metsälä, Jussi (24 September 2020). "Liberal Democracy and its Current Illiberal Critique: The Emperor's New Clothes?". Europe-Asia Studies. 73 (2): 273–290. doi:10.1080/09668136.2020.1815654.
Thus, there is a real danger of 'pseudo-democracy', especially because elections can be manipulated and often are. In these cases, elections and other democratic institutions are simply adapted patterns of authoritarianism, not democracy in some imperfect form, having the dual purpose of legitimising the incumbent's rule and guarding it from any danger of democratic change.
- ^ Sajó 2021, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Wagrandl, Ulrich (2021). "A Theory of Illiberal Democracy". Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism. Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-000-47945-4.
- ^ Sajó 2021, p. 24.
- ^ Schedler, Andreas (2006). Electoral Authoritarianism: The Dynamics of Unfree Competition. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58826-415-2.
- ^ Diamond, Larry (April 2002). "Assessing the Quality of Democracy". Journal of Democracy. 13 (2): 51–65.
- ^ DeVotta, Neil (2010). "From civil war to soft authoritarianism: Sri Lanka in comparative perspective". Global Change, Peace & Security. 22 (3): 331–343. doi:10.1080/14781158.2010.510268. S2CID 143630796.
- ^ Christie, Kenneth (1998). "Illiberal Democracy, Modernisation and Southeast Asia". Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory (91): 102–118. ISSN 0040-5817. JSTOR 41802094.