Posted on 11/21/2018 6:15:04 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
FULL TITLE: Unfixable? Several nations have tried to restore democracy after populist strongmen. It was never the same.
In April, aided by massive gerrymandering, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling coalition crushed opposition in Hungary’s national elections, claiming a supermajority in the parliament. The prime minister — who had used two prior terms in office to dominate media outlets, alter electoral rules so that urban areas were massively underrepresented and seize control of the top courts — moved to further consolidate his power. He is pushing Central European University, a leading academic institution backed by George Soros, whom Orban has demonized, out of Hungary. He also might further alter the country’s constitution.
Autocratic populists like Orban — leaders who win democratic elections and then undermine democratic institutions and norms without becoming outright dictators — have gained control of Brazil, the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, Venezuela and Poland, among other nations, in recent years. While these leaders continually pit “the people” against supposedly corrupt elites, they often still hold free (if not always fair) elections. But in office, they act autocratically to unwind the conventions and institutions of democracy. This distinguishes them from populists (such as incoming Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, those who have recently run Greece and a host of other politicians in the West) who embrace populist economic messages and even the elite-popular divide but still mostly work within democratic constraints and rules.
Charismatic autocrats are making headway in other parts of Eastern Europe and Asia, too, and they have an analogue in President Trump. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte’s government has waged an extrajudicial drug war with thousands killed, filed criminal charges against a leading investigative journalist and overseen the jailing of prominent opponents, including two sitting senators...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Democracy dies when Democrats refuse to accept the results of the elections unless they win and when they "recount" votes over and over until they win.
Sounds like another whiny Progressive loser.
WaPo is a mouthpiece for the deep state.
How many nations have restored a Constitution after it was violated by BOTH major parties and an ineligible usurper spends eight long years corrupting every agency?
Good thing we don’t live in a democracy then.
Media’s insistance on publishing this garbage is self-defeating, and dishonest.
Pinochet made Chile into a first-world country. His example was followed by China successfully, and will hopefully be followed by Brazil.
Socialism is what leads to destruction of ‘democratic’ nurms and dictatorship.
pop·u·list
noun
1.
a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people.
Let’s see. Among others, I’d say George Washington was a populist. And Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan.
FDR, Truman, Kennedy, LBJ, Carter, Obama, et al, all put state and party (socialist) above the ordinary people. Clinton was a corrupt buffoon and opportunist.
If Trump is a populist he’s doing a great job of it and may even make inroads in restoring our constitutional Republic after the socialist/globalist/statist democrats and GOPe RINOS tried to destroy it.
Drain the swamp, baby, and MAGA!!
Pinochet’s methods were condemned by the left as expected. Was it necessary? Unfortunately, yes it was.
Dear Compost,
We are not a Democracy or “Mobocracy”. We are a Constitutional Republic. For now.
Lets see, who is the collectivist entity, and who is the freedom entity?
Is Trump a collectivist? Does he support freedom?
The Washington Post is a bigger threat to this nation by three times, than Trump has ever shown himself to be.
Further, they slander the strong Constitutionalist and give other collectivists a free pass.
It’s a national disgrace that the Washington Post continues to spew hatred, misinformation, and slander against our President.
Who elected the Washington Post to anything?
Pinochet was a murderer. True he mostly killed Reds but he did so in a completely extra legal and extra judicial manner, and he left a lot of collateral damage. I go back and look at FR’s original founding statements, seeking limited govt, adherence to the Constitution, trusting that power should redt with the People. These are completely contrary to Pinochet’s military dictatorship.
“While these leaders continually pit “the people” against supposedly corrupt elites, they often still hold free (if not always fair) elections. But in office, they act autocratically to unwind the conventions and institutions of democracy. This distinguishes them from populists (such as incoming Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, those who have recently run Greece and a host of other politicians in the West) who embrace populist economic messages and even the elite-popular divide but still mostly work within democratic constraints and rules.”
Do they not see the incredible illogic of saying that Obrador is distinguished from other populists who win elections and then act autocratically once in office, when Obrador has not yet even entered office?!!!
The Compost is nausea-inducing drivel. Reads like Soviet propaganda from the Cold War. Maybe some of the same writers involved.
True. I don’t dispute much sadness was caused by him.
But a nation needs leadership that can be counted on. At it’s earliest that is always a dictator.
See China foe an example.
We ran off the Loyalists. Washington was as unifying as any dictator could be- though he turned that title down, God bless him.
Since Obama was the quintessential strongman... and Trump is the counterbalance....
It began as a monarchy, was invaded and taken over by many different hordes or nations/empires, and has yearned to be a FREE nation for over 1,000 years! And now,they finally have something close to what they and many generations of their ancestors have fervently yearned for.
The author of this POS article should NOT ever attempt to write nor talk about topics he SO obviously neither knows about nor understands! Better yet...he should be force fed Petofi's poetry 24/7 !
Boy oh boy, the Globalist butthurt just never ends. :P
Pinochet used the left’s own methods against them. Think Alinsky on steroids. Turnabout IS fair play, and when your opponent does everything possible to kill you and everything you hold dear, it’s perfectly right to kill them back.
There WAS no law after Allende, and Pinochet is the ONLY “strongman” ever to step aside voluntarily after restoring order.
Not one leftist regime has voluntarily gone quietly into that dark night. Not one.
FDR was an out-of-control populist demagogue who ignored US tradition and sought three reelections, and we're still struggling to undo the damage he caused.
Excellent and factual post. Thank you!
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