TRANSITIONS TO AUTHORITARIANISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY? LIMINAL DEMOCRACIES

Abstract

In an American and European context of governments with strong authoritarian elements, this article revisits the question of the classification of political regimes and the shifts between authoritarianism
and democracy, proposing a dialogue between classic conceptualizations of studies on the transition to democracy and anthropological theories about situations of liminality. Liminality in anthropology refers
to the specific moment in which a being is neither A nor B, but is in a process where it has ceased to
be A but has not yet become B. With the expansion of “transitional” or undefined political regimes, the
notion of liminality is a relevant complement to the concept of hybrid regimes. Furthermore, from the
outset, there is a counterpoint between the notions of transition and liminality to consider the nuances of
regime change. This article’s concern is specifically with the phase called “transition,” its similarities and
clarifications with the concept of “liminality.” It will also seek to show that this phase tends to stabilize
and lacks a predetermined direction. It is probably worth not only revising our classifications, but also
clarifying how democratic efforts are oriented in contexts of liminal democracies.
Keywords: Democracy. Transition. Social theory. Authoritarianism. Liminality.