ABSTRACT
Political scientists, historians, and lawyers – who have abandoned the ‘golden models’ shaped by advocates of a barely normativistic reading of our constitutional apparatuses show increasing awareness that democracy can also take on illiberal traits, thereby often adopting a realistic. Zakaria, argued that as of the mid-1970s, democracy in the form of free elections spread to countries which previously lacked a liberal tradition of a commitment to constitutionalism, the rule of law and individual rights: The result was the rise of regimes which, although formally democratic, could not be considered authentic liberal democracies. Yet the oligarchic challenge remains a significant obstacle which direct forms of democracy can seek to navigate but cannot fully overcome. The epistemic shortcomings that at present affect the public and, thereby, permit manipulation remain untouched by the implementation of participatory institutions that empower citizens without offering resources to counteract the threats associated with the elite monopoly.
