Abstract
In recent years there has been talk of a crisis of liberal democracy. Despite the fact that a certain "crisis-ness" arising from conflicts, controversies and disputes is immanent to democracy, one cannot be too surprised at the feeling that we may have seen Huntington's "third counter-wave" in the process of democratisation of the world, a counter-wave visible in the form of the populist wave that has been going on for some time.
The question is whether we should mind. The article assumes that it does, because it is liberal democracy that guarantees the recognition of the dignity and interests of individuals, based on a combination of democracy as a form of collective self-determination and liberalism emphasizing individual rights.
The article identifies the main threat to liberal democracy as the loss of its attractiveness to the majority of citizens if it offers what the majority does not primarily demand, namely an emphasis on minority interests and rights, i.e. a cultural rather than a social agenda. If liberal democracy is to survive, it must be as inclusive as possible.