WHEN my colleague and I published a book entitled "The Death of
Liberal Democracy?" in August 2016, many friends were shocked that we would dream up such a title.
In other words, Putin is not the product of, and has no experience of living in, a
liberal democracy. He feels more comfortable negotiating his way around an autocratic system.
He was right of course but last week Vladimir Putin declared
liberal democracy is dead, which should worry us all, especially as Donald Trump has indicated he'd like to see it go as well.
For those in any doubt about the true nature of Vladimir Putin and the growing threat to
liberal democracy posed by the despotic Russian president and his fellow travellers around the world, then his interview with the Financial Times must surely be a wake-up call.
As the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre rapidly approaches on June 4, the Trade Office of Taiwan in Munich Germany, Taiwan's de facto embassy in Germany, on Saturday (June 1) called on like-minded countries to support its
liberal democracy.
Lepore's main point is that while champions of
liberal democracy were celebrating the dawn of a cosmopolitan, interconnected, multi-cultural global community, an ugly, xenophobic nationalism was quietly taking root and reemerging as a powerful political force.
The rise of racist, nationalistic and isolationist governments in the West could spell the end of the age of
liberal democracy. Are we in Africa prepared for what this would mean for us?
Many attribute it to the failure of
liberal democracy and the economic powers-that-be to address physical and economic insecurities and hardships.
How surprised should supporters of
liberal democracy in Europe be?
Fukuyama had built his argument of
liberal democracy as the endpoint of man's political organisation over the concept of thymos.
The speaker covered topics related to early definitions of democracy, followed by types of democracies witnessed in history and lastly discussed the prevailing trends of democracy in the world and gradual change from
liberal democracy to electoral autocracy.