The growing threat of "illiberal democracy"

The revolt against liberalism, then, rests on these three complaints: Liberal institutions undermine effective governance, while liberal principles weaken national sovereignty and force citizens to give equal status to people who are unlike them.

The demand for decisive action typically generates impatience with formalities. In a 2014 speech endorsing illiberal democracy, Hungary’s longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orban mocked Hungary’s previous liberal democratic government for its inability to promote the national interest, citing countries such as Russia, Turkey and Singapore as examples of effective governance. This, he said, is why his government was abandoning “Western European dogmas” in favor of a new form of political organization that is capable of “making us competitive in this great world-race.”

Mr. Orban’s approach is gaining ground. As early as 2011, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s then-minority Law and Justice party, said that he would “bring Budapest to Warsaw.” Today, a majority government led by his party is doing what he promised, starting with an attack on Poland’s constitutional court before moving to restraints on the public media, public prosecutor, and freedom of assembly.