ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the syntagm “liberal democracy” and then looks at similarities between an authoritarian regime and an illiberal state. It then raises the dangers of a cavalier attitude of liberal democracies toward truth and acceptable public discourse. This is a symptom of their normalization of shameless behaviour. The final section discusses aspects of the liberal heritage like the protection of minorities or an inquisitive press. The argument is that these have broken loose from their initial liberal frame and are now constitutive of a working model of democracy. While this makes illiberal democracy a travesty of democracy, a post-liberal setting constitutes a valid object of thought for democratic politics and for addressing the complacency toward the inequality ingrained in capitalist economies. The chapter ends with references to resistances to illiberalism and the mobilizing potential of hope.
