Knowra Illiberal democracy Illiberal democracy Illiberal democracy is a political system in which competitive elections coexist with weakened civil liberties, rule of law, and constraints on executive power.
Executive aggrandizement : The gradual expansion of executive authority through legal or institutional changes that weaken checks on power. It describes how elected leaders can concentrate power without abolishing elections.
Liberal democracy : A political system combining competitive elections with civil liberties, equal legal protection, and constraints on government power. It preserves the liberal protections that illiberal democracy weakens.
Fareed Zakaria : An American journalist and political commentator who popularized the term “illiberal democracy” in a 1997 essay. His essay gave the concept its influential contemporary formulation.
Hungary under Viktor Orbán : Hungary’s political order under Viktor Orbán, whose governments have reshaped institutions and contested liberal constraints since 2010. Orbán described Hungary’s model as an illiberal state in 2014.
Civil liberties : Individual freedoms protected from unjustified government interference, including expression, association, and religion. Their restriction is a defining cost of electoral rule without liberal protections.
Democratic backsliding : The deterioration of democratic institutions, norms, and rights over time. Illiberal democracy can emerge through a gradual decline rather than a sudden coup.
Electoral democracy : A political system in which elections are the primary means of selecting and replacing political leaders. The label emphasizes elections, which may remain competitive despite reduced freedoms.
The Rise of Illiberal Democracy : A 1997 essay by Fareed Zakaria arguing that elected governments can violate liberal constitutional protections. It introduced the term into prominent debates about post–Cold War politics.
Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan : Turkey’s political trajectory under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, marked by electoral competition and increasing executive centralization. It illustrates how elections can continue as executive power expands and rights contract.
Political polarization : The division of political attitudes into opposing camps with declining agreement or trust between them. Leaders can use polarized conflict to portray institutional checks as obstacles to popular rule.
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