Category: illiberal democracy

Hungary slipping from ‘semi-authoritarian order to fully authoritarian’?

     

In Budapest 1, a parliamentary district at the heart of the Hungarian capital, most voters will not support the party of Viktor Orban, the country’s far-right prime minister, in a… Read more »

Existential risk to civil society in ‘skillfully veiled authoritarian’ Hungary

     

Hungary’s illiberal leader has built what Paul Lendvai in his new book, “Orbán,” calls a “skillfully veiled authoritarian system,” notes James Kirchick, a visiting fellow at the Center on the… Read more »

Liberal international order ‘mounting a comeback’ to neo-revisionist challenge

     

  The defenders of what’s called the “liberal international order” have recently suffered setbacks from adversaries inside and outside their home countries. But those who want to see the Western-led… Read more »

‘Normalization’ or alarmism? How to best defend democracy

     

Where do you draw the line between living in a democracy in which the party you despise has won free elections and living in a dictatorship where the opposition may… Read more »

Southeast Asia’s ’emboldened’ strongmen look to China in setback to democracy

     

Chinese leaders have long sought to present themselves as equals to American presidents. Xi Jinping has wanted something more: a special relationship that sets China apart, as the other great… Read more »

Time for a new European narrative?

     

A new narrative, or a new European political project, or an institutional revolution, is exactly what Europe needs, according to six recent books reviewed by Anne Applebaum, a board member… Read more »

Community of Democracies needed now more than ever

     

  When the Community of Democracies first gathered in Warsaw seventeen years ago, no one could be certain that the Community would continue for very long, let alone develop and… Read more »

Will global populism continue to erode democracies?

     

  As we head into election season in Europe, the question that dominated the past spring’s elections remains on everyone’s mind: What will be the fate of populist movements, parties and… Read more »

Solidarity founder Walesa fears for Poland – and Europe’s ‘flawed’ democracies

     

Almost four decades have passed since Lech Walesa faced down the communist regime at the Gdansk shipyard, and he says his fears of a backlash are now a reality in the… Read more »

Democracy’s defense mechanisms eroding. Populism here to stay?

     

In the age of migration the important characteristic of many of Europe’s populist parties is not that they are national-conservative but that they are reactionary, notes Ivan Krastev, chairman of… Read more »