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Anti-democratic, authoritarian tendencies and turns in Eastern Europe;
nationalist, far-right, and xenophobic trends in the west and the north of the
continent; and left-wing activism and strong movement politics in the south ¬
the buzzword of populism can be applied to each of these political dynamics.
The second part of this chapter summarises the European perceptions of
democracy in the 2010s and the rise of populism as the most relevant political
trend of the past decade. The third part gives an insight into the academic
debate about these trends, including their origins in the concept and practice
of liberal democracy.
We are obviously not in a position to deliver country-by-country analyses
here. Instead, I make an attempt to explain why and how these turmoils
are logical and unavoidable consequences of liberal democracy, without
necessarily offering solutions. The ongoing troubles of democracy cannot
be cured by technocratic policy-based or constitutional reforms. In fact, in
the concluding part of this chapter, I try to contribute to the academic and
public debate about the future of democracy in Europe through promoting
an alternative conceptual approach as food for thought.
THE STATE OF DEMOCRACY
Europe is neither unique nor different compared to other parts of the
world. Our continent fits into the global trends of dissatisfaction with
democracy. The 2010s can be seen as the decade of democratic backsliding
and democratic erosion globally. While the first hardly characterises Europe
(with the exceptions of some Central and Eastern European countries, such
as Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, or Serbia), the erosion of democratic values
is present almost everywhere across Europe. In contrast to the flourishing
literature of democratic transition and consolidation in the 1980s and the
1990s, the past decade produced hundreds and thousands of analyses, books,
and articles about de-democratisation, illiberal trends, the rise of populism,
and the so-called fourth wave of autocratisation.
Populism, polarisation, and the anti-democratic far-right represent a
serious challenge to liberal democracy. But the past decade also shows that
the prospects of democratic politics are not as dark as they look at first sight.
Dissatisfaction with the functioning of democracy does not only lead to the
rise of the far-right and anti-democratic movements, but also contributes to
reinvigorating civic participation and social movements. What is important
to see is that the current attacks against liberal democracy are not necessarily
aimed at destroying, but rather at rethinking and reforming it. Furthermore,
as surveys show, criticism of the practice does not mean that the idea itself
has failed.