Publication

This paper explores how Europe’s illiberal democratic leaders have managed to retain popular support and secure political success. According to the author, the key reason for these leaders’ political success is that their regimes, despite positioning themselves as anti-Western, have followed the so-called Washington Consensus, which prescribes prudent macroeconomic policies and open markets. The author also highlights how Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have struggled to keep their illiberal political regimes economically liberal.