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Hybrid regimes should not be confused with a new variant of democracy that we should get used to – what many call "illiberal democracy". Their violations of democratic norms are serious, blatant and ongoing.

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Authoritarians can lose elections, but should we be less concerned?

This is the story you often hear: In the old days, the military, fascists or communist parties seized power, destroyed democracy and suppressed people's freedoms. But today it is different: Populist parties attack democracy from within, infiltrate its institutions, destroy its debates through disinformation and, once in office, refuse to relinquish power.

This story, however, does not hold up. Not just because military coups are on the rise again (some are talking of a coup epidemic in...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Michael Meyer-Resende is the executive director of Democracy Reporting International, a non-partisan NGO in Berlin that supports political participation.

Hybrid regimes should not be confused with a new variant of democracy that we should get used to – what many call "illiberal democracy". Their violations of democratic norms are serious, blatant and ongoing.

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Author Bio

Michael Meyer-Resende is the executive director of Democracy Reporting International, a non-partisan NGO in Berlin that supports political participation.

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