The West is often seen as the home of liberal democracy, and liberalism and democracy seen as inseparable. But from the start, there has been tension between democracy as the will of the majority, and liberalism as the protection of minority rights and free speech. Now we are seeing the rise of so-called "illiberal democracies," sceptical of checks on executive power and liberal institutions. Illiberal democracies are now the most common form of government, according to The Economist. Victor Orbán, the President of Hungary, listed his own country along with Singapore, Russia, Turkey, and China among them, with 3% higher growth on average over the last 30 years than the liberal democracies of the West.
Does illiberal democracy threaten autocratic, or even fascist regimes? Is democracy meaningless if government constrains freedom of speech or seeks to influence the media and the judiciary? Or are unelected bodies such as the civil service, federal agencies, academia, and the law themselves potential threats to the democratic will of the people?
