Liberal democracy

Liberal democracies, on both sides of the Atlantic, were tested over the last years by a wave of populism that attempted to sweep away everything in its path.

Liberal democracies enjoy little support in much of Central and Eastern Europe, according to a survey conducted in ten countries of the region, Politico writes today.

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) presents today two studies for 2020 - on public attitudes towards democracy, democratic transition and on the way Bulgarian MEPs vote.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, his Norwegian counterpart Erna Solberg and 11 other national leaders of the conservative European People's Party have written to the EPP's president, Donald Tusk, calling for the ejection from the group of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party due to authoritarian tactics.

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By the end of the 1980s, some believed that this system of governance, which engendered economic success and political stability, had won the day against any alternative. Communist and fascist authoritarianism were discredited. A mood of triumphalism set in, breeding complacency. But things look a lot less rosy for liberal democrats today.

The annual Athens Democracy Forum has developed into a fixed point from which we can evaluate the health of democracy globally. Among other things, this year's meeting highlighted the need for democracy to be seen to be delivering goods to the public, and for its institutions to inspire trust and participation.

They also include policy recommendations for improving media literacy and tackling disinformation, coping with the "geopolitisation of technology" and thwarting foreign authoritarian influence.

Reassessing 1989

By 1989, the verdict was clear: the Soviet Union had atrophied much faster than the US, and its empire collapsed, the victim of its own errors and contradictions.

Today, the concept of competitive decay of ideological and political models seems to be relevant once again.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis welcomes the adoption by the Venice Commission of "Parameters on the relationship between the parliamentary majority and the opposition in a democracy: a checklist," according to a press statement released by the Presidential Administration.