Stefan Garsztecki (chair) / Rafał Riedel (Co-Chair)
Authoritarian Rule: State Capture or New Model of Governance in CEE?
The global trend towards social and political polarization as well as the populistic authoritarian rule left its traces also in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). But whereas populism is due to its “thin ideology” destructive but rather for a limited time authoritarian rule in its contemporary form is as a potential model of governance not limited and as such a much more serious challenge to democracy. Authoritarian rule puts into question the achievements of modernity, denies crucial elements of enlightenment like individual human rights in favour of collective self-determination and the “tyranny of majority”, and it tries to perpetuate its reign beyond parliamentarian terms. It is a kind of counter-revolution that questions the pro-democratic transition of 1989.
Across cultural and political boundaries the similarities between authoritarian regimes in Russia, Belarus, Poland (under Law and Justice), or Hungary (under Fidesz) are striking having in mind the construction of historical narratives, the instrumentalization of public media, the interference into the market, and a high level of corruption and personal enrichment of ruling elites. The core of these authoritarian regimes is nevertheless not mere corruption, but it is ideologically much stronger than simple populism, because economic turbulences, issues of migration, and aspects of globalization weakened the trust in liberal-democratic institutions among populations. This undermined the democratic fundaments of the political system and liberal foundations of the economic system, which will be studied in the panel works.
The open panel tries to convene scholars, who work on CEE to compare their findings concerning authoritarian rule, to figure out elements of a theory of authoritarian rule (history, media, economy, state capture in general), and to answer the question, if we observe a new model of governance – critical about political and economic liberalism, collective in its political dimension, manipulative in its media and information policy, and presenting an integral nationalism. The chair will present a short outline of an authoritarian programme, whereas the panel itself should focus on case studies and certain elements of authoritarian rule.
