Topic 2 — Illiberal Leaders in Democratic Systems

Working definition
Illiberal leaders are elected political leaders who use democratic legitimacy to weaken liberal constraints on power. Rather than abolishing elections, they centralize authority, undermine courts and media, and redefine democracy as unconstrained majority rule.

These leaders typically justify their actions as necessary to restore popular sovereignty, defend national values, or overcome “elite obstruction.” Their strategies are often legalistic and incremental, making democratic erosion difficult to detect in its early stages.

This does not imply that all voters or supporters of illiberal parties endorse illiberal governance; electoral support for illiberal parties often reflects heterogeneous motivations, including policy preferences, identity concerns, or protest against previous governments.

Illiberal leaders govern through democracy, not in spite of it.

Definitions and Concepts in this Topic:

Illiberal leadership, Executive aggrandizement, power concentration, legitimation

Where to look in the literature:

• Enyedi (2024) on ideological modules of autocratization
• Markowski & Kotnarowski (2025) on consolidation
• Guasti & Michal (2025) on polarization