Liberal Democratic Countries Research Articles

‘After Neoliberalism’ and on the ‘Dark Side’? Governmentality and Counter-Conduct in Times of Growing Autocratisation

ABSTRACT The political world today in many ways seems vastly different from the context in which the concepts of governmentality and counter-conduct were initially elaborated by Foucault in the late 1970s. Especially the past decade has seen significant struggles over the principles and knowledges traditionally drawn on to enact (neo)liberal government both locally and (inter-)nationally. Strikingly, these ruptures have often perpetuated, revived or diversified rather than countered dark-liberal and authoritarian forces and articulations, also in formally liberal-democratic countries. Distinguishing different readings of governmentality, the introduction engages with the particular neoliberal drift in the literature and elucidates how the contributions to this special issue revisit, complicate, and illuminate tendencies, binaries, and gaps that may impair our vision or unintentionally set limits to how we can study and critically sound out present struggles and forms of (self-)conduction. It concludes by outlining directions for further conceptual and empirical scholarship on governmentality and counter-conduct.

Gold Rush vs. War: Keynes on reviving animal spirits in times of crisis

Abstract This paper aims to exploit fully the heuristic virtues of Keynes’ famous ‘old bottles’ story, deploying a multi-layered argument and drawing out its broadest implications. In essence, we show that through this story Keynes was making a very serious point about anti-crisis policies: the need for authorities to stimulate animal spirits by relying on people’s natural impulse to action. Rather than taking the place of entrepreneurs and paying people to dig holes, Keynes seems to be arguing that public authorities should put entrepreneurs in a situation where they are so enthusiastic that they go into debt to dig holes, just like during a gold rush. At the same time, it is a question of restoring the banks’ willingness to lend for these overoptimistic projects in a period of total depression. This article explores the conditions that make public intervention as effective as possible through the enthusiasm and individual initiative that can be generated by an artificial gold rush. Such intervention therefore can be as minimal as possible, without having to resort to the opposite authoritarian solution of war. Since the gold rush builds cities and war destroys them, Keynes spent considerable energy convincing his contemporaries that liberal-democratic countries would have to take the former path if they wanted to avoid the latter.

The domestic politics of selective permeability: disaggregating the Canadian migration state

ABSTRACT Hollifield’s ‘migration state’ concept draws attention to the political tension between openness and closure in liberal-democratic countries, arguing that domestic migration policy regimes represent an equilibrium outcome between security, rights, markets, and culture. This overstates national strategic control over migration and borders. Through a case study of recent developments in Canada, sometimes held up as the paradigmatic centralised liberal migration state, we present evidence of growing policy blurring, fragmentation, and decentralisation as migration management programmes have been patched and layered in response to controversies and pressure from domestic interests, including employers, higher education institutions, advocacy groups, and subnational governments. As a result, volumes of temporary foreign workers and foreign students have increased tenfold since 2000. More generally, we propose that a strategy of disaggregation reveals the internal complexity of, and political tensions within, contemporary migration states.

Quad 2.0 in flux, how possible? A study of India’s changing ‘significant other’

ABSTRACTWhen the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) was resuscitated in November 2017, it was framed as a minilateral grouping of liberal democratic countries to build a free and open Indo-Pacific in the shadow of China’s growing assertiveness. However, this Quad 2.0 had not taken collective action until 2021. The four states neither held leaders’ summit meetings nor issued joint statements after lower-level meetings. They took no joint quadrilateral actions to deter China either. From a constructivist perspective, this paper addresses this puzzle by critically revisiting the alleged common identity of the four states. It argues that India’s national identity has not been built on the ontological difference between liberal democracy and autocracy but on a complex amalgamation of non-alignment, post-imperial ideology, Hindu nationalism and Indian exceptionalism. India, having held a vision of establishing an India–China partnership in Asia, did not regard China as its significant Other until the deadly border clashes between them in June 2020. China’s expansionism has challenged India’s identity as the pre-eminent power in South Asia and its vision of an equal China–India partnership. Despite India’s increased cooperation with its Quad partners since then, the Quad is built more on geopolitical pragmatism than on shared liberal norms and values.

Remaking Bonds: Adaptive Party Linkage-building in Contemporary China

The legitimacy and vitality of all political regimes require the presence of linkages between rulers and their citizens. Current scholarship has identified different modes of political linkages and focused mainly on liberal-democratic countries, neglecting studies of non-Western regimes which also construct dynamic linkages to remain responsive to citizen demands and mobilise political support. This article addresses the critical question of why and how parties that do not have to compete for power establish linkages with their citizens. China presents a crucial case in this inquiry, since the Communist Party of China (CPC) strategically diversifies and creatively upgrades linkage relationships with its citizens beyond Western-style competitive elections. With first-hand data collected from 11 fieldwork sites across eastern, middle and western China, this article examines the linkage strategies, mechanisms and tactics the CPC has employed to respond to an increasingly complex society and to serve multiple purposes. This research attempts to offer a new conceptual framework for understanding party regime resilience, provide insights into the general theory of party linkage, and to encourage comparative studies of party linkage across different regime types.

The majority oppressed? On asymmetrical multiculturalism and majority rights

There has been an increase of academic publications that argue in favor of ‘majority rights,’ ‘majority precedence,’ or ‘white identity,’ claiming that the (cultural) interests of majorities in liberal-democratic countries have been ignored due to ‘asymmetrical multiculturalism.’ This article critically examines this academic trend. In particular, we question the claim that liberal-democratic and multicultural theories to date have ignored the importance of the majority (culture). We observe that liberal-democratic and multicultural theory in fact strongly promote and privilege the majority culture, although in ways that do not violate core individual rights and accommodate minorities. In addition, we explore several more empirical issues regarding the claim that the interests of majorities are under threat in liberal-democratic countries today. Among other things, we observe that pro-majority theories tend to work with specific understandings of who embodies the majority. These theories rest on the idea that immigrants and their descendants (may) ‘dilute’ majorities, as they are (culturally) ‘not native.’ As a result, majority rights theorists ‘freeze’ the majority culture claimed to be worth protecting in ways that it, first, neglects ongoing processes of integration and, second, disregards possibilities for social and political change and emancipation, particularly if triggered by immigrant groups. Finally, we wonder why majority rights theories currently seem to resonate. We discuss the possibility that certain pro-diversity voices, such as those who claim that Europe has become superdiverse or who defend multiculturalism, might have (unintentionally) enabled alarmist defenses of majority rights.

The Pandemic and Constitutionalism

The paper discusses the reactions of different political and constitutional systems reactions to the pandemic and also the impact of COVID to populism, constitutionalism, and autocracy. Beyond the choice between economic and health considerations also applied in liberal democratic countries, which have lead either to “under-” or “overreaction” to the pandemic, certain illiberal regimes used the crisis situation as a pretext to strengthen the autocratic character of their systems. In some cases, this needed an “underreach,” like in Poland to insist on the presidential election, which has been important to entrench the power of the governing party’s incumbent, elsewhere “overreach,” like in Hungary, where an unlimited emergency power of government has been introduced after the very first cases of contagion. These autocratic “overreactions” have breached the formerly used authoritarian legalistic approaches by openly violating their own illiberal constitutions. New “conservative” theories on “common good constitutionalism” emerged to legitimize the necessity of authoritative rule by the executive power. The paper concludes that one possibility to overcome authoritarian populism and restore constitutionalism in crisis situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic would be to rely on the involvement of the well informed public, one that is capable to understand and assess the advice of the meritocratic elite. This kind of participation would also help build up a constitutional culture necessary to preserve the values of constitutionalism.

Diasporic assistance in authoritarian settings: Evidence from military Brazil

The study of diasporas in international politics concentrates on migrants and their descendants in liberal democratic host countries; however, diasporas in non-democratic states experience significantly different political relationships that warrant investigation. Such diasporas are not only numerous but can also be influential. Their participation in international politics and assistance to the homeland require navigating distinct political affiliations. This article explains what enables an authoritarian host country's consent to such diasporic assistance. It proposes that assistance is likely to be tolerated insofar as it does not conflict with the host country's interests, the diaspora member donors have powerful allies within the regime, and they are not identified with the opposition. This theoretical framework is illustrated by analyzing evidence from the Jewish diaspora in authoritarian Brazil (1964–1985). A comprehensive online appendix provides additional background, discusses refuted hypotheses, and details the research process toward making this article transparent and the research replicable.

Theoretical, Empirical, and Normative Dimensions of State Involvement in Cybersecurity: The Case of Japan

Unlike other major liberal democratic countries where the states can be argued to have oriented their involvement in cybersecurity relatively more towards the national security aspect such as the US, the role of the state in the cybersecurity realm has a less clear-cut orientation in the case of Japan. This paper clarifies the nature of the role of state in cybersecurity in Japan using the framework utilized by Cavelty and Egloft’s 2019 article (Cavelty & Egloff, 2019). Within this framework, the role of the state is analyzed in theoretical, empirical, and normative dimensions. The theoretical dimension analysis focuses on different theories in literature regarding the Japanese state whereas the data for the empirical dimension analysis come from publicly available records by key Japanese state and private organizations involved in cybersecurity. The normative dimension analysis emphasizes the time horizon aspect of cybersecurity policies the Japanese state should be directing its attention. In conclusion, it is found that the Japanese state embodies the roles of “knowledge creator/disseminator”, “supporter/representative of society”, “partner”, and “guarantor and protector” in addition to a necessity for government bodies to turn towards proactive long-term policies and initiatives for better cybersecurity in Japan.

Securing Authoritarian Capitalism in the Digital Age: The Political Economy of Surveillance in China

To develop a robust surveillance apparatus in the digital age, autocracies are compelled to rely on foreign suppliers or to allow domestic private entrepreneurs to enter a strategic industrial sector. The process through which China developed a surveillance state led by globally competitive security companies exemplifies this authoritarian capitalist dynamic. Initial liberalization enabled domestic firms to adapt foreign technology and eventually introduce innovations in digital surveillance. By the late 2000s, China had developed a vibrant and segmented security industry: homegrown surveillance giants with the most advanced technology dominated public procurement contracts and export markets, while smaller and medium-size enterprises were creating intrusive monitoring applications that go well beyond what the state had originally envisioned. Because China’s surveillance state rests on strong public-private linkages, the assumed alliance between surveillance capitalists and a despotic state has generated external backlash from liberal democratic countries. Global supply chains involving sensitive technology have remained resilient, however.

Ideological extremism, perceived party system polarization, and support for democracy

AbstractDoes ideological polarization undermine or strengthen people’s principled support for democracy? In this study, we suggest that different manifestations of ideological polarization have different implications in this respect. Using data from 11 surveys conducted with representative samples of the adult populations of a group of liberal democratic countries, part of the Comparative National Elections Project, we look at how people’s level of ideological extremism and their perceptions of ideological polarization in their countries’ party systems are related with their support for democracy. We show that citizens who hold more extreme ideological positions are indeed less supportive of democracy and that such a negative relationship is strengthened as citizens’ extremism increases. However, we also show that the citizens who display higher levels of principled support for democracy are those who perceive parties to be neither too distant nor too close to each other in ideological terms. In other words, while a very polarized partisan supply seems to undermine popular commitment with democracy, very low polarization may have similar consequences.

From “Asia Pacific” to “Indo Pacific”: The Adjustment of American Asia Pacific Strategy from the Perspective of Critical Geopolitics

After taking office, the Trump administration has shifted the U.S. strategy in the Asia Pacific region from “Asia Pacific” to “Indo-Pacific”. This paper attempts to start with critical geopolitics, compare the “Asia Pacific” strategy of the United States with the “Indo-Pacific” strategy, and investigate the changes and dynamics of the geopolitical imagination of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. Through the investigation, it can be found that the strategic transformation from “Asia-Pacific” to “Indo-Pacific” reflects the transformation of the U.S. strategy towards China from “L-shaped defense” to “half-mouth encirclement”, as well as the Trump government’s attempt to rebuild the U.S. hegemony in various fields through all-round competition, reshape its identity and confidence as a great power by changing its self-identity and consolidating and expanding the alliance of Western style liberal democratic countries by looking for strategic fulcrum to reconstruct the strategic demands of the key geopolitical space. After Biden’s administration took office, it has inherited and strengthened the Trump administration’s “Indo-Pacific” strategy, which means that the strategic game between the United States and China in the “Indo-Pacific” region and even the global stage will continue for a long time. In order to safeguard China’s national interests and effectively respond to the “Indo-Pacific” strategy, China should enhance its influence and maintain the mentality as a great power, adopt social creation strategies to seek identity and recognition, and make plans based on the “Belt and Road Initiative”, “Polar Silk Road”, “Belt and Road Initiative” and other initiatives; if pushed forward smoothly, it will effectively crack down on the U.S.’s attempt to contain China through the “Indo-Pacific” strategy.

Effects of Government Contracting of Services on NGOs in China: Convergence and Divergence with International Experience

The government of the Communist Party of China (CPC) rolled out a national policy to contract out social and welfare services to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 2013. This study explores how government contracting of services affects NGOs. We examine three areas: marketization, financial dependency, and autonomy. We find significant convergence of the effects of contracting on NGOs in China with NGOs’ experiences in liberal democratic countries, despite divergent political regimes. Found effects are explained by the combination of the authoritarian government of the CPC with the neoliberal governance structures introduced by contracting. Convergence with international experience despite divergent political regimes is attributed to the neoliberal essence of the policy of contracting of services.

Blame the messenger: perceived mis/disinformation exposure on social media and perceptions of newsfeed algorithmic bias

ABSTRACT Does perceived exposure on social media to mis/disinformation affect user perceptions of social media newsfeed algorithmic bias? Using survey data from eight liberal democratic countries and propensity score matching statistical techniques, this paper details the average treatment effect (ATE) of self-reported perceived exposure to mis/disinformation on perceptions that social media newsfeed algorithms are biased. Overall, the results show that self-reported perceived exposure to misleading content on social media increases perceptions of algorithmic bias. The results also detail interesting platform/country variation in the estimated average treatment effect. The ATE of perceived fake news exposure on perceptions of algorithmic bias are similar on Twitter and Facebook but are amplified in countries with high society-wide issue salience surrounding ‘fake news’ and, especially, ‘algorithmic bias’.

Poverty and Sources of Income Support Among Older People With Disabilities and Out of Work: Comparison of Canada and the United Kingdom

AbstractThe debate about extending working lives in response to population ageing often overlooks the lack of employment opportunity for older adults with disabilities. Without work, their living standards depend heavily on government transfers. This study contributes to the literature on health inequalities by analysing the sources of income and poverty outcomes for people aged 50 to 64 in two liberal democratic countries yet with contrasting disability benefit contexts – Canada and the United Kingdom. This choice of countries offers the opportunity to assess whether the design of benefit systems has led the most disadvantaged groups to fare differently between countries. Overall, disabled older persons without work faced a markedly higher risk of poverty in Canada than in the UK. Public transfers played a much greater role in the UK, accounting for two-thirds of household income among low-educated groups, compared with one-third in Canada. The average benefit amount received was similar in both countries, but the coverage of disabled people was much lower in Canada than in the UK, leading to a high poverty risk among disabled people out of work. Our findings highlight the importance of income support systems in preventing the widening of the poverty-disability gap at older ages.

‘Humanitarian Weapons’ in Geopolitical Confrontations of the 21st Century: Strategic Resources of National Resilience

The article deals with the analysis of humanitarian and security aspects of topical issues on the international agenda (particularly Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and the deepening geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China, in which the PRC uses Russia as an ‘icebreaker’ against the collective West) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, erosion of the international legal system, and weaknesses of international institutions. The author outlines the origins of trends regarding unjustified tolerance of various ‘left’ ideas, pro-Russian politicians, and practices in liberal-democratic countries after the collapse of the USSR; these trends often lead to indoctrination of harmful strategic illusions, growth of dangerous populist, authoritarian or extremist public attitudes, and significant escalation of threats to national, regional, and international security. The article substantiates the fundamental importance of restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognised borders for ensuring global stability, security, and legal order. The author articulates the necessity of imposing greater sanctions and restrictive measures against Russia, its legal entities, individuals, and proxies, which continue to use the methods of hybrid warfare and state terrorism (not only in the occupied Crimea and ORDLO but also around the world), as well as of bringing to justice the persons involved in international and war crimes. Given the changes in the global security environment, the article emphasises the need for critical analysis and rational rethinking of some methodological approaches and strategic ideas previously used in national and international policy. The author also enunciates some recommendations for Ukraine to ensure its national resilience, further strengthen its humanitarian component, and implement appropriate internal (to support the readiness of society to effectively resist permanent and sudden security threats) and external (to establish a proper international credibility of Ukraine, ensure its international support) measures. Keywords: Russian military aggression against Ukraine, international law, international security, diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, national resilience, geopolitics.

ИДЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ УСТАНОВКИ ВЕДУЩИХ РОССИЙСКИХ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ПАРТИЙ

The article characterizes the political and ideological discourse in Russia, which differs from the modern ideological tendencies of liberal-democratic countries and takes into account the peculiarities of the Russian socio-economic situation. The purpose of the work is to identify the main ideological priorities of the leading political parties of the Russian Federation that have their deputies in the regional and federal parliaments. Based on the political, cultural and constructivist approaches, the author reveals the peculiarities of the ideological perception of Russian political reality. Unlike Western countries, Russia is not characterized by the inclusion of postmodern values in the ideological palette. At the same time, there is an increase in the need for a conservative ideology with various variations – social conservatism, enlightened conservatism, liberal conservatism. The values of patriotism, nationalism, and sovereignty have become widely demanded. The analysis of the programs of the leading political parties preparing for the parliamentary elections of 2021 is carried out, which indicates the popularity of conservative and socialist values in their various syntheses, including nationalist and liberal. The success of the new political parties registered in 2020 is celebrated: New People, Green Alternative, For the Truth. Liberal values remain on the periphery of public consciousness and are not in demand in political practice. Most political parties are focused on solving social problems, which indicates the demand for socialist values. However, in some regions where environmental problems are not being addressed, there is a need to introduce an environmentally-oriented agenda in the main spheres of society, which is more the exception than the rule. Thus, there is a need to differentiate the political preferences of citizens, expressed in the adaptation of ideological paradigms to reality.

Mao versus the People: A Review of Climate Leviathan by Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann

This review of Climate Leviathan by Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann assesses the authors’ arguments and locates them within a context of the slow responses to climate challenges offered by Western liberal-democratic countries in contrast to the more radical recent efforts of the Chinese leadership. The essay considers for its powerful analytical lens Wainwright and Mann’s framework for understanding the two axes upon which future responses to climate change may occur—either capitalist or anticapitalist responses, organized either along planetary sovereignty or universal democratic lines. It offers for consideration some criticisms of the book’s lack of engagement with the potential specter of authoritarian state intervention in the name of a climate emergency—the so-called Climate Maoism.

A Frommian perspective on the socio-psychological structure of post-fascism in liberal democracies

ABSTRACT My research explores Erich Fromm’s social theories of narcissism, alienation and authoritarianism for the purpose of linking those theories together, thereby analysing current populist phenomena as an extension of a fascist development in terms of Enzo Traverso’s conception of post-fascism. In my view, Fromm’s critical social theory of narcissism, which pertains to his two other theories, has great potential to unravel current political issues in liberal democracies that are generally tackled in terms of populism. Through a demonstration of the theoretical scope of Fromm’s social theory, which sheds light on pathological social and political phenomena in historical continuity, I argue that the primary tasks of Critical Theory in Frommian terms are to divulge the sources of fascist orientations in seemingly democratic practice and to offer appropriate remedies for these difficulties. In this light, I conclude that in terms of a Frommian social theory of narcissism, fascist types of politics thrive even in advanced liberal-democratic countries, taking the form of authoritarian populism, particularly where society rests on a narcissistic character structure intertwined with an authoritarian orientation.

Religious Rights and Involuntary State Institutions in Democratic Countries: On Evenhandedness and Ecumenism in Militaries

Militaries present a difficult challenge for scholars interested in navigating the complex demands of religious liberty and religion-state relations. The reason is that the most familiar features of religion-state relations in liberal countries—governmental non-interference and the structure of religious associations as voluntary associations—are incompatible with the structure of militaries as involuntary organizations that are nonetheless highly important institutions in even liberal-democratic countries. How should scholars accustomed to the liberal framework going back to Locke, hence, theorize the desirable religious-institutional state of affairs within involuntary institutions such as militaries? As the governmental non-interference model is inadequate, the argument to be presented here is that the involuntary nature of militaries presents the liberal-minded theorist, with unusual dilemmas, and hence would make two models most adequate for a religious-institutional state of affairs within militaries: evenhandedness (or multiple establishments) and ecumenism, a somewhat unusual category.