As we survey open societies across the world since the heady days of 1989-91, we cannot help but observe—as Freedom House annually documents—not an increase but rather a steady decline in the number of democracies in the world. Once open societies across the democratic world—some so-called new, others old established ones— are one by one turning toward what they themselves proudly proclaim as “illiberal democracy,” characterized by restrictions of freedom, by corruption, arbitrariness, and sometimes even by fear and repressions of the sort we in the formerly communist East strived so hard to leave behind us.The various putative causes for …read more
Source:: The American Interest
