Erosion of Liberal Democracy

Fareed Zakaria brings attention to the growth of illiberal democracy around the world, particularly in the United States. He blames the shift in professional groups from closed independence to entrepreneurship. Specifically, Zakaria laments the Congress’s loss of power and its movement from a “closed hierarchical system” to an entrepreneurial system of popular politicians. I believe he is correct in stating that the erosion of liberal democracy is occurring in the U.S. However, as he acknowledges, the Constitution, a document that the American people have come to hold sacred, checks majoritarianism and guarantees certain rights regardless of majority opinion. While I think he raises a major, pressing concern with the current state of affairs in American politics, I am not certain that a regression to the previous closed hierarchy is a viable option at the moment. Would Americans positively view a decrease in the transparency of political parties? And if the U.S. did revert to exclusive politics, how does it do so without significantly disregarding popular opinion? Foa and Mounk are more specific about the erosion of liberal democracy in the U.S. They explain how the American culture of democracy has evolved to allow a disregard toward informal democratic norms. In conclusion, the system is failing, but it may take a great amount of instability to cause a notable swerve off the path toward illiberal populism.

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