The Rise of Illiberal Democracy
![handle is hein.journals/fora76 and id is 1066 raw text is:
The Rise of
Illiberal Democracy
Fareed Zakaria
THE NEXT WAVE
THE AM ERIC A N diplomat Richard Holbrooke pondered a problem
on the eve of the September 1996 elections in Bosnia, which were meant
to restore civic life to that ravaged country. Suppose the election was
declared free and fair, he said, and those elected are racists, fascists,
separatists, who are publicly opposed to [peace and reintegration].
That is the dilemma. Indeed it is, not just in the former Yugoslavia,
but increasingly around the world. Democratically elected regimes,
often ones that have been reelected or reaffirmed through referenda, are
routinely ignoring constitutional limits on their power and depriving
their citizens of basic rights and freedoms. From Peru to the Palestinian
Authority, from Sierra Leone to Slovakia, from Pakistan to the Philip-
pines, we see the rise of a disturbing phenomenon in international life-
illiberal democracy.
It has been difficult to recognize this problem because for almost
a century in the West, democracy has meant liberal democracy-a
political system marked not only by free and fair elections, but also
by the rule of law, a separation of powers, and the protection of
basic liberties of speech, assembly, religion, and property. In fact,
this latter bundle of freedoms-what might be termed constitu-
tional liberalism-is theoretically different and historically distinct
FAREED ZAKARIA is Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs and a Con-
tributing Editor for Newsweek.
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The Rise of Illiberal Democracy
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