Beyond Trending: What is “illiberal” democracy?

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Beyond Trending: What is “illiberal” democracy? Although the implications of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat remain to be seen, experts view it as a serious setback for the “illiberal” model of democracy. What is “Illiberal” democracy? Written by: Ashiya Parveen4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 17, 2026 05:20 PM IST Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Left) and Péter Magyar (right) during their respective election rally in Budapest. (Credits: AP Photo/ Facebook; Péter Magyar) Make us preferred source on Google Whatsapp twitter Facebook Reddit PRINT Europe’s far right, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party suffered a landslide-loss in parliamentary elections after 16 years of continuous rule. Orbán’s center-right opponent, the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar, won 136 seats of the 199-member Hungarian Parliament.  Although the implications of Orban’s loss remain to be seen, experts like Gulshan Sachdeva view it as a serious setback for the “illiberal” model of democracy that had been gaining ground across several European countries in recent years. But what is “illiberal” democracy? A brief explanation of liberal democracy will help us understand this. Liberal democracy is a system of government characterised by the rule of law, universal suffrage, and the protection of civil rights. Marc F. Plattner, the founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy, notes that while democracy is an answer to the question of who rules, liberalism describes the limits to rulers’ power once they are in office. Since liberal democracy emphasises freedom and equality for all individuals, these limits, usually defined in a written constitution, seek to protect individuals’ rights and demand the rule of law, says Plattner, adding that hence, “constitutional democracy” sometimes serves as an alternative term for liberal democracy. However, it is interesting to note that democracy and liberalism are not inseparably linked. Larry Diamond, a leading scholar of democracy, underlines that “historically, liberty – secured through constitutional, limited government and a rule of law – came about before democracy.”  For instance, premodern democracies were not necessarily liberal, while some liberal societies were not governed democratically. The fact that liberalism and democracy are inseparable is central to debates on the idea of “illiberal” democracy, in which Viktor Orbán occupies a centre stage. The term “illiberal democracy” was first introduced by Fareed Zakaria in an article titled “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy”, published in Foreign Affairs in 1997. Zakaria used the term to describe the spread of democracy during the mid-1970s in countries that completely lacked a liberal tradition.  He argued that the mere introduction of elections does not qualify such countries to be called genuine liberal democracies. Rather, it undermined the possibility of these countries evolving into a liberal democracy. He argued that the path through “liberal autocracy” might be a surer route than the path through illiberal democracy for reaching the ultimate goal of liberal democracy. Following the triumph of the Fidesz party in Hungary in 2010, Orbán expressed his unequivocal support for the idea of illiberal democracy by saying that “there is an alternative to liberal democracy: it is called Christian democracy”…, “which is, by definition, not liberal: it is, if you like, illiberal”, noted Plattner. Orban also drew distinctions between liberal democracy and Christian democracy by underlining that the former supports multiculturalism, immigration, and adaptable family law, while the latter prioritises Christian culture and family model, and does not support immigration. Although Orbán defeat in the recent elections ignited debates about its implications for the “illiberal” democracy in Hungary under the aegis of the centre-right Tisza party, the implications remain to be seen. But Plattner’s observation, he made years ago, appears relevant in this context, when he said that the threat to liberal democracy lies in the possibility that “mainstream center-right parties will be captured by tendencies that are indifferent or even hostile to liberal democracy.”  We would love to hear what you think about this new initiative. Send your comments at ashiya.parveen@indianexpress.com. Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for March 2026. Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X. Ashiya Parveen is working as Commissioning Editor for the UPSC Section at The Indian Express. She also writes a weekly round up of global news, The World This Week. Ashiya has more than 10 years of experience in editing and writing spanning media and academics, and has both academic and journalistic publications to her credit. She has previously worked with The Pioneer and Press Trust of India (PTI). She also holds a PhD in international studies from Centre for West Asian Studies, JNU. ... Read More