Jamal Awil

← The Road from Mont Pèlerin

Liberalism and democracy, although compatible, are not the same . [contrarian]

Liberalism and democracy, although compatible, are not the same . . . the opposite of liberalism is totalitarianism, while the opposite of democracy is authoritarianism. In consequence, it is at least possible in principle that a democratic government may be totalitarian and that an authoritarian government may act on liberal principles . . . [in] demanding unlimited power of the majority, [democracies] become essentially anti-liberal (1967, 161).

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 2144