Paper short abstract:

In the Neoliberal world order, the issues that define the age-old debate about the relationship between capitalism and democracy are explored as a debate about two contemporary movements referred to as neoliberal democracy and authoritarian neoliberalism from Africa, Asia, Latin America to the West.

Paper long abstract:

In the contemporary Neoliberal world order, the issues that define the age-old debate about the relationship between capitalism and democracy have become more nuanced and critical. In the 21st C, the democracy-capitalism conundrum that Joseph Schumpeter grappled with in the 20th century (Schumpeter, 2008) has become a debate about the relationship between two paradigmatic processes referred to as "neoliberal democracy" and "authoritarian neoliberalism" in the UK, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the US. Using the two concepts to frame the discussion, the paper explores five dimensions that shape the relationship between capitalism and democracy reflected around the world in practice in the contemporary global world order. We apply all five models to case events that illustrate contemporary political-economic transformations in the UK, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the US, and that examine democratic impact, change, and transformation. The paper concludes that authoritarian neoliberalism has emerged as a dominant regime type around the world whose impact has been to increasingly destabilize liberal democracy in the West and to stunt the substantive consolidation of democracy in the Global South.