Allure of Democracy

Western societies are widely synonymous with being liberal and democratic, with the terms liberalism and democracy often used interchangeably. The optimism that democracy seemed to have brought about in the 1990s, including economic prosperity and freer societies, often known as the hallmarks of liberalism, has been fading in the current century, giving rise to its antithesis, illiberal democracy. Can democracies be illiberal? Or is an illiberal democracy post-liberal democracy where nations turn illiberal after experiencing a liberal-democratic system?

In July 2014, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, made a striking speech at Băile Tușnad, a town in Romania, endorsing illiberal democracy and highlighting the economic success stories of Singapore, China, India, Russia and Turkey. In the Journal of Democracy, Marc F. Plattner writes about Orbán’s speech, which implied that ‘“a democracy does not necessarily have to be liberal. Just because a state is not liberal, it can still be a democracy,” adding that “the new state that we are constructing in Hungary is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state.”
Will the 21st century witness the rise of illiberalism and illiberal democracies? SouthAsia explores this in this piece.

An end-of-history moment?
For Paul Poast, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago, what is likely being witnessed now “is an end of the ‘end of history moment’. While democracy spread following the Cold War, it did so during a time when nationalism was in a lull. Much more powerful was the allure of economic globalization fostered by the U.S. When coupled with the U.S. being the dominant global power, this created conditions for democracy to spread.”

Was the allure of democracy overestimated? Kenneth Holland, a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago (UChicago), says, “We were too optimistic about the transition of Russia and China from authoritarianism to liberal democracy. Similarly, in the 1920s, the U.S. was overly optimistic about Germany’s transition from authoritarianism to liberal democracy.”

Speaking of the ‘third wave of democracy,’ Holland states, “There are, in fact, many more democracies now than there were in the 20th century. There are new democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia due to what is called ‘the third wave of democracy’.” He shares how the major hot and cold wars of the 20th century pushed democracy as the best system.

According to Muhammad Faisal Awan, Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi (KU), “Democracy’s allure may have been overestimated due to challenges, such as populism, polarization, and the failure of democratic institutions to address pressing issues effectively. Even in the West, the ideals of freedom and equality have not materialized because these values are illusionary and not yet defined. They may be more dependent on contingent factors than having universalizing meaningfulness. The West is in an identity crisis, and so is democracy.”
Can democracy be illiberal?

With the rise of right-wing politics across the world, maybe all is not well with democracy. Awan mentions, “It depends how democracy is defined. Democracy and liberalism are often considered interconnected, representing people’s will. However, in many cases, democratic systems may exhibit illiberal tendencies, such as infringing upon minority rights or concentrating power in the hands of a few. The rise of right-wing politics across the world reflects that even the rule of the mob may find a place in this system.”

Democracy can be illiberal, says Professor Holland. He says, “The core meaning of democracy is the rule by the majority. The majority can be tyrannical when it violates the rights of the minority.” However, from KU’s IR Department, Awan believes “the time is not ripe to write its obituary. However, the growing dissatisfaction with the capitalist system per se may even make a democratic form of government a part of the problem.”