The Process of Deterioration of Liberal Democracy in the Visegrad Group Countries: Institutional Perspective

Contemporary changes of liberal democracy affect different countries of the world. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, known as the Visegrad Group countries (V4), are among them. Although the countries seemed to be on a good way to consolidated democracy, about a decade ago the first symptoms of deterioration of liberal democracy became apparent. In the text, attention is focused on the institutional level, which should resist certain challenges in mature democracies. The institutions in V4 were weak and liable to be subordinated by strong political leaders and populist parties, and not strong enough to fight off illiberal tendencies. The analysis reveals that Poland and Hungary were more prone to compromise liberal democratic achievements, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia less so. This paper answers the questions of the institutional causes behind the deterioration of liberal democracy and the effects it brings.

Demokracja w Serbii i Chorwacji w XXI wieku: w koleinach historii?

The author shows the contemporary political regime in Serbia, focusing on the role of the president and the party system. He traces Serbia's evolution in the last decade from non-consolidated democracy to hybrid regime or even non-consolidated authoritarianism from the historical experiences that shaped her political culture. He identifies the sources of autocratism and monism in her state, church and intellectual history. He compares Serbia with Croatia, which for twenty years is a non-consolidated democracy. The article shows that Serbian and Croatian historical pre-1991 cultural and political traditions influenced the perceptions of democracy and “strong leaders” rules of their contemporary inhabitants no less than experience from the transformation period.

Post-election political government partnerships in the Republic of Moldova: between desiderates and realities

The article examines some topics regarding the establishment, functionality and viability of the twelve governing coalitions that alternated in the Republic of Moldova in 1994– 2020. Particular attention is paid to the issue of forming a governing post-election parliamentary majority, based on political reason and substantial procedural consensus. The latter presupposes agreement on a set of procedures when taking decisions of common interest. It is concluded that the convergence of elites (coalition, alliance, partnership and other political collaboration arrangements for respecting the democratic political game) is a way of working of political elites and involves, in fact, a substantial transformation of unconsolidated democracy into a functioning, consolidated democracy.

Ukraine’s Way to a Consolidated Democracy: Issues, Prospects and International Experience

The article is devoted to current issues of democratic progress of Ukraine within the framework of the constitu-tional and legal provision of direct government by the people. Some aspects of the civil society formation are also considered. The reasons which do not allow Ukraine to be identified as a consolidated democracy in the light of international experience have been analyzed.The article analyzes the difficulties faced by Ukraine in the process of democratic transformation. Democratic state is a state based on the theory of popular sovereignty and the recognition of the people as the only source of power, the consistent guarantee of human and civil rights and freedoms, ensuring their equality, real participation in the management of the affairs of society and the state.Despite the existence of formal institutions of democracy and government by the people, the Ukrainian democ-racy shouldn’t be overestimated, paying particular attention to the essential aspects. Ukraine cannot be considered as consolidated democracy for all indicators. Democratic progress is considered slow, as corruption and a limited field of public initiative stand in the way.Currently, the problem of ensuring a genuine effect for the decisions of the all-Ukrainian referendum is an overdue issue. It is urgent to solve another problem in the sphere of direct democracy, namely the legislative settlement of the issue of local referendums, which have been actually impossible for the last eight and a half years. The adoption of this law is of paramount importance to our society – it can reduce social tensions and change the protest area – from ineffective demonstrations to productive and constructive voting.In terms of sustainable, consolidated democracies, Ukraine still remains an electoral, that is, unstable country. And for its final establishment, transformation into a consolidated one a great amount of time is still needed.

Postal ballot in unconsolidated democracy: Poland's case

Purpose As the democratic world debates and in some cases replaces physical voting with postal ballots and on-line voting, it is important to refrain from advocating a generic approach to the issue and in particular to distinguish between consolidated and unconsolidated democracies. Design/methodology/approach The paper argues that unconsolidated democracies are not fit for the introduction of non-physical (postal ballot and on-line) voting methods, which rather than broadening the scope of democracy may in actual fact be derailing it. The key reason for this distinction is the lack of political consensus for constitutional rules, the weakness of the rule of law and persistence of parochial and subject-based political cultures in many countries of the region, including Poland. Findings Replacing physical voting with postal ballot, attempted during Presidential elections in the summer 2020 in Poland, eventually failed and was replaced with conventional physical vote. However, the Polish case demonstrates that in the system with weak checks and balances, postal ballot could be used to consolidate illiberalism not democracy. Research limitations/implications The paper demonstrates that further research on defining consolidated and unconsolidated democracy is needed. In particular there is a need to factor in the research on political culture into the definitions of democratic consolidation. Practical implications EU membership for Poland and some other Central European states – such as Hungary – failed to prompt the process of democratic consolidation. In fact the opposite happened as the impact of EU conditionality lost relevance. It is important that any change of electoral law in Poland and other rule of law violators in the region is viewed with great care and scrutiny. Originality/value The paper’s conceptual approach rests on the definition of consolidated democracy as put forward by Przeworski (1991) and developed by Linz and Stepan (1996). According to these definitions, Poland is not yet a consolidated democracy and as argued in the paper, it has actually experienced an expansion of illiberalism in recent years. The paper also posits that the concept of “consolidated democracy” should be augmented to include the existence of civic political culture as a necessary condition for the maintenance of a healthy democracy.

Institutionalization of Political Parties on Post New Order Authoritarianism and Its Implications for Indonesian Democracy

The article is focused on explaining how institutionalization of political parties in Indonesia after the collapse of New Order regimes and how it affects democratization in Indonesia. It is considered important since Soeharto’s regime rose to power, political parties are being forced to limit their ideal function/ In this article, the writers concludes that political parties in Indonesia after the authoritarianism regime, have not been institutionalized and are even far from it if compared to the magnitude level its current problem. Political parties are trapped on long term internal conflict of interest, drained their energy and still continued until now. Moreover, the depth oligarchies pattern in its management is worsened by personalized figure and the dominance of party’s management from the central, forced us into the conclusion that political party are just the sub-ordinates of elite’s interest. The result, political parties are simply failed to play important role in supporting consolidated democracy, since they are busy and distracted by their own internal problems. That’s why, when will Indonesia rise into transition phase in democracy is still questionable, especially if the question is solely based on institutionalization of political parties.

Towards Democratic Consolidation? Ukraine After the Revolution of Dignity

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of post-Maidan Ukraine’s democratic consolidation, with a focus on its attitudinal, behavioral and institutional dimensions.The study suggests that Ukraine’s transition from a hybrid regime to a consolidated democracy involves addressing a series of societal and institutional issues, ranging from transformation of paternalistic culture to institutional development of political parties and civil society organizations (CSO). Institutionalization is essential for shifting from charismatic appeal or rule to well-established institutions that translate leader’s vision into policies sustained by appropriate structures, rules, and procedures. The study enquires into the intricacies of democratic consolidation in post-Soviet countries, amid constraining conditions stemming from deep-rooted authoritarian legacies.

Populism as a Factor of Destabilisation in Consolidated Democracies

This study offers a discussion of the dangers to the stability of political systems in consolidated democracies posed by contemporary populism, with a particular focus on the dynamic development of extreme right-wing populism. The author considers the consequences of efficient populist campaigns, such as Brexit in Great Britain, lowered trust towards the United States under Trump’s administration and practices followed by the Law and Justice party (PiS) under the leadership of Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, which seem especially destructive for liberal democracy. Further examples are those of Hungary and Turkey, where the political systems have eroded into semi-consolidated democracy in the case of the former and an authoritarian system in the latter case. A comparative analysis of freedom indices indicates some dangers related to de-consolidation of the democratic system in Poland. Furthermore, the study points out dangers arising from the transformation of soft populism, understood as communication rhetoric oriented towards the concentration of power in the hands of populist leaders, which clearly paves the way for the dismantling of consolidated democracy in favour of an authoritarian system. The conclusions of the study outlines a variety of actions which can be undertaken to protect the achievements of liberal democracy.