Liberal Democracy in Crisis

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

The idea that liberal democracy is experiencing a severe crisis currently dominates much of the political, academic, and broader media discourses. Brexit in Great Britain, the election of Donald Trump in the United States, the success of the AfD in Germany and similar far-right parties all over Western Europe, and the rise of “populists” in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and elsewhere – they all seem to indicate strong authoritarian leanings amongst the broader electorate in the “West” and a dangerous amount of skepticism towards the foundations of liberal democracy. What does the historical perspective contribute to a better understanding of our current predicament? We start by analyzing the diagnoses presented by politicians and journalists, political scientists as well as social and political psychologists and examine how they have interpreted the “crisis.” Next, we look at previous moments in recent history when democracy seemed, or was perceived to be, in trouble – in the period between the World Wars, for instance, and in particular after the Global Depression; or in the 1970s, when a series of economic “shocks” and powerful protest movements seemed to conspire to make democracies “ungovernable” – and reflect on the lessons that can (or should not) be drawn from this history. Finally, we explore the origins of the current “crisis,” focusing on possible longer- and medium-term causes such as the global financial / economic crisis of 2008/9, the dramatic demographic and cultural changes that most of the affected societies are undergoing, or the role of globalization.