We often see democracy and liberalism as natural partners. But Chinese philosopher Tongdong Bai argues that they are in tension because, as John Stuart Mill foresaw, democracy threatens liberalism’s emphasis on the rule of law and the protection of individuals and minorities against the tyranny of the majority. The rise of populism, he argues, is nothing more than a democratic attack on core liberal values. He proposes instead a hybrid state, inspired by Chinese Confucian political philosophy, which combines democratic and meritocratic elements, abandoning the principle of one-person-one-vote that he thinks has brought liberal democracies to their present crisis.

The IAI is hosting a live online event on Democracy and Its Perils, with a panel debate, interview, live audience Q&A, and more, on Monday, September 7th 2026 at 17:20 BST. Join Richard Wolff, Timothy Garton Ash, Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Herman Cappelen, as they debate the merits of democracy.

The post-Soviet “end of history” euphoria is long gone, and the idea that democracy is in peril has taken hold in the West, not least due to the rise of right-wing populist parties. Yet the irony is that many of these parties, from Trump’s populist Republicans to Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), are rising through democratic elections. In several countries, they have even won the largest share of votes, only to be kept out of power when anti-populist coalitions form in the name of defending democracy. Their success, in fact, is a product of democracy rather than a sign of its collapse. If anything, their influence might be even greater if democratic competition were allowed to run its course. Confusion about this stems from how the term “democracy” is used: it has become a loaded concept that often conflates two distinct ideas, namely liberalism and democracy.

Democracy is about the rule of the majority, and liberalism is about the rule of law and protection of certain liberties for individuals. Conceptually, they are different. Historically, proto- and early liberal thinkers sought to protect liberties from oppressive powers. For proto-liberal thinkers such as Montesquieu, the threat was from the rise of absolute monarchy. But in the 19^th century, early liberal thinkers such as John Stuart Mill realized that with absolute monarchy disappearing in the UK, the new threat to liberties was democracy, or the tyranny of the majority. Mill introduced and defended liberalism to save liberties from the threat of the opinions of the many. The emergence of liberalism can therefore be seen as a response to the challenge of democracy. In this fight, liberalism and democracy achieve a balance—what we call liberal or constitutional democracy. With democracy and its first cousin, equality, advancing continuously, however, this fragile balance is now being broken. What is declining is not democracy, but liberalism. Anything that deviates from the opinion of the masses is considered anti-egalitarian, elitist, and undemocratic. “We the people,” left behind by globalization, wish to disrupt the status quo with the power of the majority, hopefully unchecked by any laws. If this is the case, and if you love liberalism, the only hope is to limit democracy and equality in order to regain the balance.

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