Liberal Democratic Principles Research Articles

Prospects For Integration and Obstacles to Democracy. Eu’s Role in The Albanian Political Crises

More than three decades after the totalitarian regime collapse, Albania is still categorized as a hybrid democracy despite having made consistent strides toward becoming a liberal democracy. Most local political leaders have remained antagonistic towards liberal democratic principles. In 2019, relations between the European Union (EU) and Albania were at a special stage of development. After a difficult period and tensions in the EU, the European Council decided to postpone the decision to start membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia. Apart from this issue, Albania had other challenges in 2019, including institutional and political conflict, justice reform, the fight against corruption, and the consolidation of democratic structures. This article examines the intricate connections that Albanian political representatives and institutions maintain with foreign organizations and entities. It specifically highlights the role that the EU Delegation played in mediating the political and institutional crises of 2019. Although the external incentives models provide a useful foundation for understanding Albania's Europeanization process, other factors that may be relevant and encourage the ongoing democratization and rule adoption are indicated by the country's low membership credibility.

Challenging Liberal Principles: Understanding of Democracy among Populist Radical Right Youth Leaders in Austria and Germany

ABSTRACT Responding to the growing political success of populist radical right parties, scholars have increasingly examined those parties relationship to democracy. While some consider these parties as a democratic corrective to a crisis of political representation, others point to their ideological conflict with the principles of liberal democracy. We contribute to this debate by exploring the understanding of democracy of populist radical right youth leaders. Specifically, we conducted nine qualitative semi-structured expert interviews with leaders and executive members of the populist radical right youth wings in Austria (Ring Freiheitlicher Jugend/RFJ) and Germany (Junge Alternative/JA). To determine their understanding of democracy, we utilised a vignette technique to simulate governmental decision-making in resolving specific political scenarios. The findings indicate that although the youth leaders recognise democracy as such, their understanding of democracy contains majoritarian and anti-egalitarian aspects that might indirectly curtail liberal principles of democracy. This study thus provides an in-depth analysis of the motivations underlying the intentions of populist radical right youth leaders toward potential transformations of democratic institutions.

Features of Transformation of Worldview Attitudes among Russian Youth in the Context of Geopolitical Conflict

Drawing from nationwide surveys conducted between 2006 and 2023, this study illustrates the specific transformation of worldview attitudes among Russian youth aged 18-24 compared to the general population. This transformation occurs within the context of the global confrontation between Russia and the collective West. The analysis focuses on the clash between two ideological positions: advocates for a Western-oriented path of development for Russia and proponents of civilisational sovereignty, advocating for a unique developmental path for the country. The examination revolves around three groups of indicators:
 1. Perceptions of the country's development path and its position in the world (indicators: perceptions of the necessity and priorities of changes within the country; ideas about Russia's place in the world; assessment of the path Russia is following).
 2. Views on societal structure (ideas about an ideal model for human-state-society relations; desired image of the future Russia).
 3. Life values and attitudes (prioritisation of individual interests versus societal interests; perspectives on actions required to achieve personal goals).
 The conclusion drawn is that the new phase of societal transformations in Russia, beginning with the onset of special military operations in Ukraine in February 2022, presented a significant challenge to Russian society as a whole, particularly impacting the youth aged 18-24. The primary vector of events, marked by heightened confrontation between Russia and the West, conflicted with the worldview perceptions of the youth. A considerable part of the youth was oriented toward a model of country development resembling contemporary Western societies, embracing liberal-democratic principles in state governance, and seeking opportunities to shape life strategies within a transnational environment. However, based on the data from 2023, the potential bifurcation point in the mindsets of the youth has been passed. The emerging divergence in attitudes among 18-24-year-old Russians from the overall trend in societal mood is diminishing. There is a reduced demand for change, reaching its lowest point, and the level of trust in key government representatives is at or below the corresponding indicators for the general population. Instead, there appears to be a shift toward more intricate processes of adaptation among the youth aged 18-24 to the current situation. They seem to be searching for compromises between their previously held attitudes and the changing reality they face.

In Search of a New Model of Political Governance in Southeast Asia; Democracy's Decline, Populism's Rise, and Globalization's Retreat

This article examines the challenges facing democracy in Southeast Asia, including the decline of the liberal democratic model, the rise of populism, and the retreat of globalization. It identifies five key trends that have led to the deterioration of the democratic ethos in the region and highlight the emergence of strong populist leaders who promise change through radical reforms. The article argues that it is necessary to explore the emergence of new political governance models that are uniquely Asian and lie outside the perceived colonial shadows of North America and Western Europe. This study focuses on four emerging market countries in Southeast Asia. It uses qualitative research methods to examine how these countries are coping with the decline of liberal democratic principles and institutions in the region. The study aims to provide an overview of the possible outcomes of new political governance models as the area moves forward. The review highlights that while the decline of liberal democratic principles and institutions in Southeast Asia has hurt social and economic progress in the region, emerging market countries in the region have taken steps to address the decline by strengthening democratic institutions, increasing investment and trade, and strengthening vital economic sectors such as tourism and information technology. In addition, the review also discusses the potential for a new political governance model to emerge that is distinctly Asian and in keeping with the culture and history of each country in the region.
 Keywords: globalization, political governance model, democratic decline, representative democracy. How

Asian vs. liberal democracy: identifying the locus of conflict in the Asian values debate

ABSTRACT The Asian values thesis argues that a coherent value system endemic to Asian societies is incompatible with the Western notion of individual human rights and liberal democracy. Past survey studies have treated Asian values as a one-dimensional variable and left the meaning of democracy open to various interpretations. As a result, the precise loci of conflict between the two value systems were never fully fleshed out. This study addresses those shortfalls by breaking the concept of Asian values down into ‘Asian’ personal and political values and liberal democracy down to its defining characteristics: electoralism, political rights, and civil rights. Using country-level data from the Pew Research Centre and the World Values Survey, I examined how ‘Asian’ personal and political values are associated with these liberal democratic principles. Regression results reveal a wide intraregional disparity in ‘Asian’ values orientation within East and Southeast Asia and interregional effects suggest that the existence of a pan-Asian identity is greatly overstated. Whereas ‘Asian’ personal values are not inimical to liberal democratic principles, ‘Asian’ political values are negatively associated with the support for electoralism and political rights. This leaves countries in Asia open to the possibility of alternative political models to gain mass support.

The Narrative Foundations of Radical and Deradicalizing Online Discursive Spaces: A Comparison of the Cases of Generation Islam and Jamal al-Khatib in Germany

Radical/extremist Islamist actors use social media to disseminate uncompromising stories of monist religious political orders and identities. As a reaction, counter-movements to online Islamist radicalism/extremism emerged in Western societies (and beyond), while uncertainty about effective outcomes remains widespread. In a bid to understand how inclusionary and exclusionary discursive spaces are created, we ask: How do some Muslim actors create discursive spaces open to self-reflection, pluralism and liberal-democratic principles, while others construct illiberal, particularistic and non/anti-democratic spaces? To respond to this question, we compare two contrasting storytellers, one who agitates for exclusionary Islamist radicalism/extremism (Generation Islam) and one who offers inclusionary prevention and deradicalization work against that (Jamal al-Khatib). We draw on novel narrative approaches to the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) in Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), via which we compare text-level and context-level narratives disseminated about three Muslim-related crises: the racist terrorist attacks/genocide to represent the national, European and global level. Our two-layered, DHA-inspired narrative analysis illustrates that, at the level of text, narrative persuasion varies between both contrasting actors. While Jamal al-Khatib disseminates persuasive stories, Generation Islam is much less invested in narrative persuasion; it seems to address an already convinced audience. These two text-level strategies reveal their meaning in two antagonistic narrative genres: Jamal al-Khatib’s “self-reflexive savior” creates an inclusionary discursive space represented in a self-ironic narrative genre, while Generation Islam’s ”crusading savior” manufactures an exclusionary discursive space represented in a romance featuring a nostalgic return to the particularistic Islamic umma.

The poverty effect of democratization

In this paper we examine the interrelatedness between regime types of democracy and non-democracy and poverty reduction. The liberal international order and democratic principles have been challenged by the populace’s general discontent in recent years, while the reduction of poverty is a central goal of the global development agenda as embodied by the Sustainable Development Goals. Democracies could promote poverty reduction by encouraging redistribution, lifting barriers for poor people, or giving better access to the institutions of society. Democracies might hinder poverty reduction if they are captured by elites or become dysfunctional in general. Our data cover around 140 countries and a period from 1980–2018. We use a mix of methods to address endogeneity concerns. In dynamic panel estimates that control for past influences of poverty, GDP and inequality we find no significant impact of democratization – measured mainly by electoral democracy – on poverty rates. In more flexible and causal treatment effects estimates we find democratization reduces poverty rates by about 11–14% in the first five years after democratization on a 95% significance level and about 20% 10–14 years after democratization on a 90% significance level. Although we find mixed results, we are still confident that democratic political institutions matter greatly, and societies are better off when the political systems are more inclusive. The fact that our results do not find clear support for this suggest that electoral democracy – without further aspects considering the level of democracy – does not have a clear-cut effect on poverty.

The Spanish and French Far Rights in Their Quest for a New Traditionalist Order

The French and Spanish far rights are going through a period of intense joint activity. In both countries, a renewed ideological framework is narrowing the gap between the moderate right and the extreme right, creating even more radical hybrids. Organized around diverse reactionary ideologies, mainly stemming from the European New Right school of thought and conservative Christianism, these two countries are part of a larger international coalition trying to establish a new civilizational order. These forces are targeting different social minorities, progressive movements, and, ultimately, the very principles of liberal democracy. This article provides a socio-historical analysis of the ideas that structure these radical geopolitical constructions in order to trace the continuity between the past, present, and potential future of important sectors of the far right in France, Spain, and beyond.

The Court of Justice of the European Union in the Case Law of the Polish Constitutional Court: The Current Breakdown in View of Polish Constitutional Jurisprudence Pre-2016

The current crisis in the relationship between the Polish Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) is of crucial significance for the process of regional integration based on the values of liberal democracy taking place in the EU. The constitutional crisis in Poland that began in the end of 2015 has challenged the systemic position of the Polish Constitutional Court. It resulted in a new model of constitutional adjudication, and in this new model the Constitutional Court, stripped of its counter-majoritarian power, cannot be perceived as the guardian of liberal democracy. This article postulates that the assessment of the present case law of the Polish Constitutional Court in European matters is made through the prism of the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence pre-2016 (i.e. before the constitutional crisis). Based on that assumption, the current reversal in the case law of the Polish Constitutional Court concerning the ECJ is analysed and assessed. It is argued that the root cause of the constitutional crisis in Poland is the departure from the principles of liberal democracy in the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, which are foundational—in light of the assumptions of the integration process—for the axiological identity of the EU and its Member States. This article also shows how the principles and concepts developed in the Polish constitutional jurisprudence pre-2016 could have served to avoid the current conflict with the ECJ, and how those notions are misused in the current jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Court.

Sustaining development in Nigeria through liberal democracy

Development is a pivotal process for human existence. The unique feature of the development is that it involves an active engagement of everybody. In Nigeria, the situation is different because, with the inception of self-rule particularly the return of full democracy in 1999, the system of politics disguisedly revolves around the interests of the few (bourgeois). National interests are handled like private property by the selected few who came into power on the basis of socio-economic status, tribe, and religion. However, people who are supposed to contribute to the transformation of the state are neither not voted into power because of their tribe nor allowed to participate in national decisions. Nigerian politics in a nutshell stifled all efforts of true democratization because of greed which sidelines the welfare of the masses. Advocates of development insist that the process can only be sustained in a society where there is a principle of equal opportunities. By this, the principles of right, law, and government should aim at shielding different personalities as illustrated in the principles of liberal democracy. Liberal democracy maintains a political value that incorporates equality and widens the horizon for religious, economic, political, and intellectual freedom of citizens. It is on this basis that this study suggests liberal democracy as a vital system which can transform the socio-economic and political situation of Nigeria. The study recommends that to sustain development in Nigeria, stakeholders should prioritize the welfare of the civil society against material gains and selfish interests of the few elites.

Citizens’ Actions against Non-liberal-democratic Parties

Political parties are important for the functioning and consolidation of democracy – citizens should defend their rights against parties with agendas that conflict with the principles of liberal democracy – the types of actions that are permissible for citizens depends on the conditions of political legitimacy and the closeness to power of non-liberal-democratic parties – theories of both (un-)civil disobedience and violent self-defence are relevant here

The Spirit of ’76 and the Spirit of January 6

In recent years, conservative political scientists have increasingly turned away from the textualist and originalist arguments of their legal academic compatriots by reviving defunct historiographical templates to reorient the Right’s constitutionalism around a fundamentalist orthodoxy centered on the Declaration of Independence. This essay considers C. Bradley Thompson’s America’s Revolutionary Mind (2019) as a contribution to this project that manifests its valorization of political violence, misrepresentation of the relation of revolutionary era ideas and events to contemporary politics, and misconstrual of the American founding that underwrote the events of January 6. By contrast, George Thomas’s The (Un)Written Constitution (2021) argues for moving beyond constitutional theory debates about the interpretive methods most likely to remove politics from constitutional law by imagining a polity constituted by a commitment to good-faith civic deliberation over core liberal democratic principles, manifesting the true Spirit of ’76.

The elitist defence of democracy against populists using education and money

ABSTRACT Democratic backsliding and autocratisation tendencies raise the question of what liberal democracy can do to defend itself. Of particular concern are populists, who are often perceived to have an ambiguous commitment to the principles of liberal democracy. The defence of liberal democracy has often been conceived in legal terms, for example, with party bans and propaganda restrictions. However, legal means are criticized for being elitist because they are directed against irrational and emotionally driven masses and because they allegedly violate the very values that they are supposed to protect by limiting the democratic freedom of some groups. Instead, critics have proposed cultural and socio-economic means as non-elitist and non-exclusionary alternatives more in line with the values of democracy. This article discusses whether the employment of cultural and socio-economic means against groups – in casu populists – who are perceived as a challenge to liberal democracy can avoid the charge of elitism and exclusion by analysing whether these means are consistent with the publicity constraint. It finds that the use of education and money to defend democracy against such groups relies on a form of elitism and exclusion similar to the one that the defence by legal means is charged with.

Memorial communities in the global world

The article reveals the methodological potential of the cosmopolitan approach to the study of collective memory as one of the main prerequisites for the formation of group identity and identification of the foundations for the formation of global memory. For this purpose, the civilizational approach of S. Huntington, the paradigmatic approach of J. Heidt and the methodological apparatus of memory studies with its inherent intention to the problem of forming a group identity are used. These methodological tools helped to explain the whole spectrum of modern civilizational transformations and provided an impartial view of the sources of aggressive policy of russia towards Ukraine’s European choice and entire Western civilization. In view of this, the results of the study can be useful for developing a humanitarian policy appropriate to Ukraine’s European choice, in particular, for elaboration of a strategy for the development of Ukrainian memory policy. It must be developed taking into account the ultimate importance of global (universal) memory for overcoming international conflicts for the sake of peace and prosperity of all mankind and understanding the problematic nature of its emergence in the near future due to civilizational differences and economic inequality. Given this, it is important to the modern world to form supranational communities, whose members being aware of the decentralized nature of global processes and the risks involved will focus on creating a system of interstate mechanisms to overcome turbulence to preserve peace and increase human well-being. Despite the noble intentions of the supporters of the cosmopolitan world based on the principles of liberal democracy, their ideas and programs are discern with great caution, and sometimes even with open hostility in cultural environments and communities with different from European collective experience and historical memory. This, in turn, puts on the list of items the need to unite the entire Western world and construct a supranational pan-European identity as a prerequisite for the internal consolidation of European society around core values defined by shared historical memories that underpins European international policy

Decolonizing and re-theorizing radical democratic education: Toward a politics and practice of refusal

The aim of this article is twofold: first, it seeks to discuss the relationship between democracy and colonization, and to examine the implications of this relationship for democratic education and, second, it turns to decolonial thinking as a resource for critiquing and reconstructing “radical democratic education.” A decolonial critique offers two crucial insights to radical democratic education that draws on Mouffe’s theory of radical democracy: first, it shows how Mouffe’s theory entails the risk of re-inscribing the hegemony of liberal democratic principles because this theory is insufficiently attentive to the harms caused by dispossessions of colonized peoples, especially the loss of their land and, second, a decolonial critique highlights the role of recent ethico-political movements such as “refusal” in resurrecting and rehabilitating the radical promise of democratic education. These insights have practical implications for those who are rethinking radical democratic education in terms of an expanded notion of democracy encompassing subaltern standpoints.

Demokratisasi Dan Desentralisasi Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan Dalam Pemilukada Provinsi Sumatera Utara Tahun 2018

The purpose of this study is to analyze and explain the existence of internal party democracy and the decentralization of party authority in the PDI-P through the Djarot-Sihar election and the basis for consideration of PDI-P carrying out the cadres of the central board of directors as a candidate pair for regional heads at the 2018 North Sumatra Provincial Election. qualitative research with descriptive analysis. This study is intended to describe and explain in depth the level of democracy and decentralization of power and authority of political parties in decision-making, especially in the nomination, determination up to the stage of submitting the Candidates for Governor and Deputy Governor in the General Election of Regional Heads of North Sumatra for the 2018-2023 Period. PDI-P implements a form of internal party democracy with a guided pattern where the General Chair has special authority in determining the form and procedure for administering internal democracy itself which is guaranteed by the Party Charter, Party Articles of Association, and Party Bylaws; The recruitment of candidates for regional heads and/or deputy regional heads is not carried out democratically in accordance with the principles of liberal democracy, where the decision making in the nomination of candidates rests with the General Chairperson of the Party. The determination of Djarot-Sihar as a candidate pair for governor and deputy governor of North Sumatra Province in the 2018 Regional Head General Election was based on party strategic considerations in accordance with the political calculations of the General Chair and party elite ranks.

Populist Government and Constitutional Democracy


 
 
 Until the first decade of the 21th century, scholars and reporters have identified contemporary populism as an element of anti-systemic revolt; furthermore, they have also recognized an incompatibility between populist phenomenon and government function. However, some recent cases of populist parties in power seem to be able to put into crisis more than one certainty regarding the nature and scope of the populist phenomenon. This observation raises the questions of this work: what harmful effects does populism in government produce on liberal institutions, pluralism, and representation in constitutional democracies? Do these effects merely erode the liberal component, or do they extend to produce a degeneration of democracy as a whole? And finally: what are the risks for democracy? The article corroborates the diarchic theories of democracy and aims to demonstrate the lack of compatibility between the principles of liberal democracy and populist principles, which have a negative impact not only on the liberal component, but also on the quality of democracy in its entirety.
 
 

Fidesz, liberal democracy and the fundamental law in Hungary

After its landslide victories of 2010, 2014 and 2018, Fidesz has introduced numerous institutional changes in the Hungarian political system. The academic research has emphasized the illiberal and antidemocratic character of these reforms, and the populist ideology of the party has been widely considered as the underlying force behind them. This study analyzes the most important reform that Fidesz has undertaken: the new Fundamental Law, enacted in 2012. We examine whether this change can be regarded as a violation of liberal democratic principles, and, if that is the case, whether it can be linked to the populist character of Fidesz. We found that some of the most criticized dispositions of the newly enacted constitution cannot be regarded as violations of liberal democratic principles, whereas other changes clearly constitute attacks to the foundations of Hungarian democracy, mainly affecting the separation of powers and the civil rights of minorities, These findings are largely consistent with the effects of populist governments on democracy as documented in the literature.

The Prospect of Pragmatic Confucian Democracy: Reply to Dryzek, Macedo, Ackerly, and Li

The Prospect of Pragmatic Confucian Democracy: Reply to Dryzek, Macedo, Ackerly, and Li

The faces of freedom in the concepts of a liberal and non-liberal state

The last decade has exposed the recession of freedom throughout the world. It arises from the latest Freedom in the World 2020 report that civil liberties and political rights have deteriorated in 64 countries, while only 37 have seen a slight improvement in these areas. The principles of liberal democracy (the rule of law, free elections, minority rights and freedom of expression) in Europe, historically the best-performing region in terms of freedom in the world, have come under serious pressure in recent years.
 In the article, starting from an analysis of the categories of freedom presented in many aspects, followed by a discussion of the assumptions and concepts of liberalism, as well as the political project referred to as non-liberal democracy, which has grown out of their criticism, the author identifies the problem of instrumentalization and relativization of freedom, which leads to the restriction of freedom of speech, freedom of minorities, religious freedom and sexual freedom, replacing the individual freedoms of the citizens with the so-called collective freedom.