What Makes New Forms of Authoritarianism so Attractive? - Rethinking the Shades between Authoritarian and Democratic Rule
November 06–07, 2014
The famous slogan “the end of history” proved to be a historical misjudgement. Instead of linear progress towards liberal democracies we are confronted with new setbacks of democratization, emergence of grey-zone regimes between democracy and authoritarianism and new and supposedly attractive forms of authoritarianism. Classical authoritarianism seeks for absolute obedience, is directed against individual freedom and liberties and is always ready to use hard repression against opponents. New authoritarian or grey-zone regimes are chameleon-like – they are able to adjust to new circumstances, they have institutionalized representation of a variety of agents and they even incorporate some democratic procedures like elections and thus create a structure resistant to change. Moreover, they rely mostly only on soft repression and seem to enjoy the support of considerable parts of the people. In Eastern and South Eastern Europe, in the Caucasus, in Asia we are witnessing new semi-democratic or electoral authoritarian regimes, which – under the guise of formal democratic procedures – limit individual freedom and reduce liberties. New forms of authoritarian rule seem to be attractive, flexible and adaptable, and functional alternatives to the regime in some regions such as Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasian rim. Regimes able to reconcile competitive elections, multi-party systems, parliaments, constitutions and other elements of rule usually associated with liberal democracies on the one hand side with the functional logic of authoritarianism on the other. They pose new questions and call for deeper rethinking of concepts of authoritarianism and hybrid regimes. The guiding questions are: Why are they resilient, endurable, and why do they enjoy a considerable consent of the people?
The workshop lasts two days. On the first day, 6 November, it will take place at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB); and on the second day, 7 November, it will be held at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
Your contact for the event on 6 November in the WZB is Gudrun Mouna Tel. +49-30-25491 321,
E-Mail: gudrun.mouna(at)wzb.eu
Convener
Contact
Participants
Thomas
Ackermann
Fellow
2016/2017
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Attila
Ágh
Corvinus University of Budapest
Petar
Bojanić
Center for Advanced Studies - South Eastern Europe, Rijeka
Erhard
Busek
Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa, Wien
Aurel
Croissant
Universität Heidelberg
Christian
Demand
MERKUR, Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken, Berlin
Aleksandar
Fatić
University of Belgrade
Christian
Göbel
Universität Wien
Ivan Iotov
Krastev
Fellow
1999/2000
Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia
Wolfgang Merkel
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Christoph
Möllers
Permanent Fellow
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Snježana
Prijić-Samaržija
Center for Advanced Studies - South Eastern Europe, Rijeka
Aviad
Rubin
University of Haifa
Ilyas
Saliba
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Alexander
Schmotz
Schmotz
Mehtap
Söyler
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Silvia
von Steinsdorff
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Jonathan
Wolff
University College London