One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Authoritarianism Is Forever

In this analysis for Foreign Policy, Steven A. Cook points to a common mistake made by journalists, academics, and policymakers: believing that authoritarianism dies with a leader. 

He uses as an example the case of Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been recently reelected as superPresident. The country has already changed too much, he argues. "There is no going back."

It's also the case of Viktor Orban in Hungary or Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Poland. They all managed to create a narrative that appeals to large numbers of people: from anti-Western to racist discourses, they have created their own movements. 

In all these countries there is an opposition, but leaders have managed to manipulate former institutions and to create new ones that shut the door to anyone who dares to contradict them. They are using what's left of democracy to get rid of their opponents. 

The manipulation of institutions, Cook argues, will endure after the leaders are gone. It doesn't mean that change is not possible. But it may take two steps to get democracy back.