Illiberal democracy
System of governance / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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]