Much is made in the West of the merits of liberal democracy. It is the model for all Western states and the clarion call of Western politicians when condemning other, “less enlightened” countries, not least China, where different models of government and representation exist. Hong Kong is now in the crosshairs of Western liberal democracy moralizing, following the introduction of its national security laws. Despite these mirroring Western security laws, The American Spectator headline “Liberal and Free Hong Kong Is Dead” typifies the Western media’s response.
The double standards exhibited here have been eloquently exposed in China Daily and elsewhere. What I want to highlight now is the West’s blinkered portrayal of other countries as a threat to liberal democracy at a time when it needs to focus on the real danger closer to home. In particular, just how resilient to internal threats is the liberal part of Western democracies? If there are insufficiently robust safeguards to preserve the characteristics of liberal democracy, it is clearly at risk of becoming mere electoral democracy or simple majoritarianism.
The Oxford definition of liberal democracy is: “A democratic system of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law.” The origins of liberal democracy go back to the European Enlightenment and the American and French revolutions of the late 18th century, where individual rights and the concept of liberty curtailed the power of the state. Pluralism is a key concept that is fundamental to liberal democracy. It ensures the dispersal of political power among different interest groups, the toleration of conflicting political views, and the protection of civil rights. Political disagreements are resolved through a constitutional framework and by maintaining the rule of law through an independent judiciary.
This is the theory and it can work well. However, the West should not be too complacent in its belief that liberal democracy is a secure and guaranteed political system. Whether the liberal characteristics of Western democracies endure is entirely down to the will of politicians and the electorate. Nothing is guaranteed. Over 2,000 years ago, Plato said that all democracies end in tyranny. He may have had in mind the sort of cataclysmic change that was later witnessed in Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler, a democratically elected politician, rapidly established dictatorial powers, with devastating consequences for the world. However, this sort of change can also be incremental rather than revolutionary in nature. The liberal aspects of democracy can sometimes be whittled away, slowly evolving into the sort of electoral tyranny of which Plato warned.
We are currently witnessing a trend in this direction in the West, with different electorates being seduced by the simplistic rhetoric of populist, right-wing politicians. For some of these, the key liberal-democratic ideals of pluralism, the rule of law, and the need for constitutional checks on governmental power are seen as impediments to their authority. Right-wing populists in Europe and the United States have been in the ascendancy for some time, undoubtedly posing an insidious threat to the norms and values of liberal democracy.
Illiberal amendments can be made to constitutions if the political will is there, and the independence of the judiciary can be compromised when judges are selected by presidents, as we have witnessed with the US Supreme Court
This was the theme of an article in the New York Times two years ago, in September 2022. It portrayed Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, as Europe’s “most prominent practitioner of this kind of ‘soft autocracy’ by election”. It maintained that he had created an “illiberal democracy” by “eroding civil liberties and media freedom, subjugating the judiciary, and restructuring his country’s electoral system”. The opinion piece went on to argue that Orban “has become a model to the far right around the world, including in the United States”.
Two years on, this perceived threat to liberal democratic norms and institutions has gained further traction. The far right has been on the rise not just in Hungary but throughout the West, notably in the European Union, where June’s elections saw big gains for right, far-right and populist parties. Strong gains have also been registered by far-right parties in many national elections in Europe, including in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Germany, and, most recently, Austria. In this year’s United Kingdom general election, the right-wing Reform party overtook the Liberal Democrat party in its overall share of the votes (though not in the number of seats because of the unrepresentative nature of Britain’s “first past the post” system).
Meanwhile, in the US, the right-wing trend that accelerated under Donald Trump’s first presidency has intensified, with the Republican Party’s commitment to liberal democratic norms, such as gracefully accepting electoral defeat, being further diminished. Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election has avoided a possible repeat of the January 2021 attempted insurrection amid Trump’s claims that the election had been “stolen” from him. However, any relief felt about this should be tempered by the fact that Trump’s second presidency will likely coincide with both the Senate and House of Representatives being under the control of his right-wing Republican Party. This, combined with Republican dominance in the Supreme Court, gives Trump the sort of unfettered power that is the envy of the extreme right in Europe.
This right-wing advance in the West, typically characterized by anti-immigrant rhetoric, has seen a weakening of liberal values and a polarization of politics. If this trend continues, the threat to liberal democracy is that populist majoritarianism will triumph, and right-wing politicians will be able to ride roughshod over constitutional or judicial protections for minority groups. Illiberal amendments can be made to constitutions if the political will is there, and the independence of the judiciary can be compromised when judges are selected by presidents, as we have witnessed with the US Supreme Court.
This is an existential threat for Western liberal democracy, and the message to its defenders is clear: rather than continuing to demonize other countries as perceived threats to liberal democracy, they should focus on the real enemy within.
The author is a British historian and former principal of Sha Tin College, an international secondary school in Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
