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was a dramatic shift in understandings of what it would take to ensure democratic
consolidation in Europe. Across the political spectrum people recognized that bringing
stable, well functioning democracies to Europe would require much more than merely
eliminating dictatorships and changing political institutions and procedures; it would
necessitate revising the relationship that existed among states, markets and society
as well. (Berman 2011, 68)
This resulted in the recognition that European countries needed “a regime
type which entails dramatic changes not merely in political arrangements,
but in social and economic ones as well” (Berman 2011, 68).
The great merit of Berman's finding is that it reframes the whole debate
about the current democratic malaise or backsliding. Instead of elaborating on
which elements of liberal democracy are more important and deserve utmost
protection against the other, she shows that the roots of contemporary liberal
democracy are elsewhere. They are not to be found in liberal constitutionalism
but in social democracy - namely that the policies aimed at achieving greater
social inclusion and economic equality can protect both constitutional
liberalism and democracy.
Therefore, one can also conclude that the recent rise of illiberalism and
populism is almost inevitable for two reasons. On the one hand, these ups
and downs of liberal democracy have always been present in history. On
the other hand, the weakening of social inclusion and the extreme growth
of economic inequalities among Europeans cannot lead to anywhere else
other than to questioning the institutions of both constitutional liberalism
and democracy.
This relationship is even clearer if one compares the yearly maps of the
Gini Index - an indicator that shows the income inequalities within a given
society - with the map of the rise of illiberal, populist forces around the
world. Based on the above-mentioned logic, it is not a coincidence that the
highest inequalities are present in those countries where illiberalism and/or
populism are also rising. Thus, paraphrasing Zakaria’s sentence cited above: if
a liberal democracy does not preserve economic stability, welfare, and social
inclusion, that it is a liberal democracy is a small consolation.
Streeck puts all this in the context of neoliberalism and globalisation, claiming
that the rise of populism is rooted in the failure of neoliberal governance and
the exposure of people to global markets, where they could hardly find any
help and security when economic crises hit society. The criticism of liberal
democracy from the people’s perspective is called populism by the elites,
including not only political but social, intellectual elites, as well. In his view,
‘[p]opulisn’ is diagnosed in normal internationalist usage as a cognitive problem.
Its supporters are supposed to be people who demand ‘simple solutions’ because
they do not understand the necessarily complex solutions that are so indefatigably
and successfully delivered by the tried and tested forces of internationalism; their