Illiberal democracy

The spread of illiberal politics is becoming the "new normal" in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Eurasia, US-based watchdog Freedom House warned in its annual 'Nations in Transit' report, published on Wednesday.

Most Balkan countries experienced setbacks in their progress to democracy last year amid the re-emergence of populist authoritarianism in the region, according to Freedom House's 2017 Nations in Transit report, which was published on Tuesday.

Since my late 20s I have defined myself, politically speaking, as a classical liberal. This meant that I believe in human rights and freedoms as the cornerstone of human society and any legitimate political authority. I also believed that this liberal vision, if explained well, would appeal to most people unless they are wild-eyed fanatics or ruthless autocrats.

I will begin this piece with an honest confession: As a Turkey observer, I failed in the first decade of this century to foresee the second decade. By the year 2010, I was very optimistic about "New Turkey," believing it was on the road to becoming a liberal democracy. By 2016, however, we are, at best, a very illiberal democracy.

'The Puzzle of Non-Western Democracy' by Richard Youngs (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 213 pages, $20)

When I expressed my concerns about the signs of a move from authoritarian rule to fascist political discourse in Turkey (in daily Cumhuriyet last week), I only wanted to underline the danger of ever increasing militarization and "statization" of politics and party in the country. 

About 2.5 years ago, I wrote a piece titled, "Turkey: Fears of Illiberal Democracy." I argued that with the subordination of the Kemalist military-bureaucratic establishment by elected politicians, Turkey had finally consolidated its electoral democracy. However, this did not guarantee these elected politicians would act in liberal ways.

The political model that President Tayyip Erdo?an has been establishing for Turkey in the past two-three years ? and aims to perfect with a new constitution based on a ?presidential system? ? has been famously controversial. Erdo?an and his supporters call this model ?democracy? at its best, where the elected leader of the nation knows no limits.

If you would like to read a book these days that would help you grasp the political dynamics of post-Arab Spring societies, I would wholeheartedly recommend a new title: “Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East.” Penned by Shadi Hamid, an American scholar of Arab origin, the book shows how the tension in the Muslim world is not only between dictatorship