illiberalism
Curtailing individual freedoms
Illiberalism is political opposition to liberal democracy—rejecting individual rights, press freedom, judicial independence, or minority protections in favor of majoritarian rule or state authority.
The term describes governments or movements that maintain electoral forms while undermining democratic institutions: Hungary's slide into illiberalism, the rise of illiberalism in Europe.
Critics sometimes apply it loosely to any politics they find authoritarian.
Rule by one
- dictatorshipUnchecked single-ruler government
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- despotismAbsolute one-person rule
- totalitarianismState controls everything absolutely
repression · oppression · coercion · strongman · crackdown · surveillance · oligarchy · theocracy
Adherence to accepted beliefs
- doctrineEstablished body of teachings
- fundamentalismStrict adherence to core tenets
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
- inflexibilityQuality of being unbending
rigidity · certitude · fanaticism · zealotry · ideologue · doctrinaire · unquestioning · closed-mindedness
Intolerance toward differing views
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
sexism · homophobia · transphobia · misogyny · chauvinism · ethnocentrism · narrow-mindedness · exclusion
Forcible prevention or concealment
- silencingStopping noise or dissent
- book-burningDeliberate destruction of texts
- bannedOfficially disallowed
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
redaction · propaganda · disinformation · indoctrination · brainwashing · newspeak · thoughtcrime · purge
autocracy
Rule by one
- dictatorshipUnchecked single-ruler government
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- despotismAbsolute one-person rule
totalitarianism · repression · oppression · coercion · strongman · crackdown · surveillance · oligarchy · theocracy · junta
orthodoxy
Adherence to accepted beliefs
- doctrineEstablished body of teachings
- fundamentalismStrict adherence to core tenets
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
inflexibility · rigidity · certitude · fanaticism · zealotry · ideologue · doctrinaire · unquestioning · closed-mindedness · groupthink
bigotry
Intolerance toward differing views
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
racism · sexism · homophobia · transphobia · misogyny · chauvinism · ethnocentrism · narrow-mindedness · exclusion · scapegoating
suppression
Forcible prevention or concealment
- silencingStopping noise or dissent
- book-burningDeliberate destruction of texts
- bannedOfficially disallowed
blacklist · redaction · propaganda · disinformation · indoctrination · brainwashing · newspeak · thoughtcrime · purge · sanitization
- authoritarianismautocracy, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
- Post-Communismpostcommunism, Soviet collapse, Berlin Wall fall, democratization, market reforms
illiberalismliberalism
Philosophy valuing reform, tolerance
liberal democracy · constitutional democracy · classical liberalism · political liberalism · constitutionalism
illiberalismliberality
Generous spirit or giving
open-mindedness · broad-mindedness · tolerance · freethinking · cosmopolitanism
illiberalismprogressivism
Philosophy advocating societal reform
progressiveness · inclusivity · multiculturalism · egalitarianism · secularism
deliver, liberal, liberty, liberate, liberation, liberalism, liberals, illiberal, libertarian