Illiberal democracy can limit your rights as well
The impacts of illiberal democracy are felt all over Europe, says Ville Suuronen, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Tampere Institute for Advanced Study of Tampere University. As an example of this he mentions Poland who has started to roll back the legal right to abortion. Suuronen’s study helps to understand the political trends at the time when new kinds of extremist movements are supported more than earlier in Western liberal democracies.
Individual freedom is one of the cornerstones of liberal democracy. Consensus, open discussion and compromises form the foundation for a state that promotes the general interest of society and not the tyranny of the majority or a dictator. Today liberal democracy is understood as a broad concept that includes, among other things, respecting human and basic rights, the freedom of religion and speech, free and fair elections as well as equality, in addition to individual freedom. Since the end of the Cold War, liberal democracy has generally been regarded as a hegemonic political system. In recent times, however, more authoritarian forms of democracy have increased their influence both in Western Europe and elsewhere.
Illiberal democracy narrows down individual rights and centralizes decision-making power
Illiberal democracies preserve some of the basic principles of democracy but connect them to authoritarian features. For example, although political decision-makers can be elected in some kind of elections, the decision-making process is often not transparent, and the central institutions of society are not independent. Illiberal political parties often strive to centralize the decision-making power to certain citizens, while leaving the various minorities outside the nation and political decision-making. The political atmosphere involves different kinds of threats and confrontations, by means of which efforts are made to legitimize the centralization of power.
The development of illiberal democracy can be felt everywhere, in Europe, in individual nation-states, and even in the lives of individual citizens, says Suuronen.
– On the European level, there are ongoing discussions about the position of Hungary in the European Union and about the European liberal value system. On the level of individual nation-states, states like Hungary and Poland have restricted some individual rights, such as Poland the right to abortion.
The discussion about illiberal democracy heated up in 2014 when Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, openly declared that Hungary would abandon liberal democracy and would start pursuing illiberal democracy. Poland’s restriction of the right to abortion, mentioned by Suuronen, took place in 2020– 2021.
– My research helps to understand the political trends at a time when new kinds of extremist movements are receiving more support in Western liberal democracies, summarizes Suuronen.
Keywords: state, democracy, liberal democracy, illiberal democracy, individual rights, Tampere University, Tampere Institute for Advanced Study