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Noalternativetoliberaldemocracy?,SamuelAbrahám
Opinion&Analysis
9
Liberaldemocracyanditsdiscontents
Tus,ratherthanreviewthenatureofilliberalisminCentralEurope,letuslook
atthebasicpreceptsofliberaldemocracyanditsmultiplerivalsinthepast.Tis
willallowustobringsomecontexttocurrentdevelopmentsintheregion.
Testatusandmeritofliberaldemocracyis,ofcourse,ahotlydebatedtopic.And,
moreover,itisoftenmisconstruedanddeliberatelyso.Itscriticsusuallypairitwithlib-
eralismwhichisconsideredtobeahyper-tolerantandrelativisticideology,responsible
forallthesocialproblemsofthemodernera.Intheformercommuniststates,alarge
sectionoftheeliteblamesliberaldemocracyforalltheillsofthepost-communist
transformation:thatitopenedthedoorstocorruption,cynicism,greedandmasspri-
vatisation.Othersarguethatithasweakenedthestateanditspublicinstitutions,thus
allowingcrasspoliticiansandeconomicoligarchstoexploitthestateandtosiphon
awayfundsthatcouldhavebeenusedtosupportsocialwelfareandeducation.
Tecriticsofliberaldemocracyspanfromthe
rightandleftofthepoliticalspectrum.Fromthe
right,liberaldemocracyisdenigratedforunder-
miningmoralvalues,religiousbeliefsandthespirit
Liberaldemocracyisthe
culminationofliberalism,
ofpatriotism.Somerightwingideologuesblame
bothinstructureand
liberalsforweakeningthestate’scentralisingpower
inthemanifestation
whileothersmaintainthatliberaldemocraticstates
aretoostrongandintrusive.Tereligiousrightof-
tenviewsliberalsasoutrightimmoralforallowing
ofitscorepractices,
normsandvalues.
abortionandfavouringsamesexmarriage.Liberal
democracyisdismissedbysomeonthepoliticalleftasacynicalcoverupforpre-
vailingandgrowingeconomicdisparity.Itisseenasanimperialistsystemthatonly
pretendstocareaboutindividualfreedomandwell-being.Inaddition,someon
theleftviewliberaldemocraticstatesasweakbecausetheyareunabletoconfront
largecorporationsthatarelargelyresponsibleforgreenhousegasemissionsand
exploitingworkersindevelopingcountries.
Itisaparadoxtowitnesssomuchcriticismofliberaldemocracytodayconsidering
thatitsstructureissowidespread.Nearlyeverycountryintheworldusesthesepa-
rationofpowersmodel,wherethestateisdividedintothreediferentbranchesof
power–legislative,executiveandjudiciary–andholdsgeneralandperiodicelections.
Teconstitutioninmostcountriesguaranteestheindependenceofthethreebranches
ofpowerandthuslegitimisestheauthorityofthosepowers.However,thewritten
constitutionandpoliticalrealitydifersfromcountrytocountryandoftenlegislative
andjudiciarypowersaresubservienttoapowerfulexecutive.Teexistenceofthe
threebranchesprovideslegitimacytothestatebutitdoesnotguaranteethespiritof
