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The National Interest
Zakaria's Complaint
by Thomas Carothers
. . . Zakaria’s diagnosis of illiberal democracy remains interesting and relevant. Some countries do indeed face this syndrome. But it is inadequate as a broadly-applicable tool for understanding the dilemmas, dangers and disappointments afflicting democracies all around the world. The recent near-collapse of Nepal’s transition from monarchical rule, Moldova’s slide back into proto-communist rule, Guatemala’s turgid effort to break free from its military-dominated past, Cote D’Ivoire’s tragic lapse into civil war, Albania’s persistent political fecklessness and dozens of other cases of badly troubled democracy have little to do with the phenomenon of illiberal democracy. They reflect a more complex cornucopia of problems and paradoxes, including the challenge of developing meaningful transfers of power in an age of a single dominant economic model, the question of whether the rapid expansion of civil society is overtaking traditional forms of political interest representation, and the devastating reality of the nearly universal collapse in the public credibility of political parties. In the end, Zakaria’s continued insistence in The Future of Freedom that the problem is simply too much democracy too soon has the feel of a meritorious, medium-sized idea being stretched much too thin. . . .