Democratic control and authoritarian advent – Karl Popper’s roadmap to democracy to avoid the “death” of democracy

Abstract

Political Science literature has focused considerable attention on the issue of the collapse – or “death” – of liberal democracy in the face of authoritarian parties and movements that, through gradual processes, attempt to erode its political institutions. As a result of these debates, there is also discussion about how to avoid its collapse by adopting mechanisms or institutional safeguards that protect it against attacks that aim to erode it from within. Karl Popper’s theory of democracy assumes extraordinary relevance due to the emphasis he devoted to the issue. This article aims to scrutinize Karl Popper’s democratic theory in order to identify the mechanisms he devised to not only prevent the advent of authoritarian regimes, but also to restore the democratic status quo if it is completely lost. The method employed consists of a critical review of Karl Popper’s theory of democracy, comparing it with the current institutionalist literature on the topic dedicated to the “death”/resilience of liberal democracy. The main conclusion is that it is possible to extract from Karl Popper's democratic theory the constituent elements of a Theory of Defense of the Democratic Order, as well as of a Theory of Considered Civil Resistance if, in the latter case, democratic institutionality is completely lost, both contributing decisively to illuminating the current debate on the issue of the collapse/resilience of liberal democracies.