Illiberal Democracy in Latin America
In an influential 1997 essay, Fareed Zakaria coined the term “illiberal democracy” to describe countries that elect their leaders, yet restrict civil liberties and political freedom. Zakaria was right to describe illiberal democracy as a “growth industry”: in the past 15 years, it has opened lucrative franchises in Latin America.
SANTIAGO – In an influential 1997 essay, Fareed Zakaria coined the term “illiberal democracy” to describe those countries that hold elections (of varying fairness) to choose their leaders, yet restrict civil liberties and political freedom. At the time, such practices were common mostly in Asia and Africa, with a sizeable concentration of illiberal democracies among the ex-Soviet states.