June 2012
Which Democracy After the "Arab Spring"
A sign at a Scottish polling station
The experience of the “Arab Spring”, with its achievements and its failures, raises several fundamental questions about democracy that are valid beyond the region. This paper emphasizes that majority rule is not necessarily genuine democracy, but instead is fully compatible with “imitation democracy” – in which the appearance of the democratic process is preserved (elections) but its pluralist substance is denied by populist demagoguery and, when necessary, repression.
© 2012 CIDOB Foundation
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Author:
Roberto Toscano
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Issue:
57
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