Liberal democracy is a form of government

Liberalism seeks to separate private and public morality.

The fundamental idea of liberalism is that the state handles an optimal set of common tasks that are accepted by all or nearly all, and the rest is left to individuals to decide for themselves.

Liberal democracy is a representative democracy, a government by the people, in which the power of freely elected representatives is limited by the rule of law and a constitution that protects individual freedom and civil rights.

On a national level, liberal democracy means a country where citizens' rights, i.e., the protection of individual freedom against state power, are guaranteed.

Liberal democracy is a form of government.

It means a state that is also a democracy. In practice, the country accepts freedom of expression and religion, freedom of assembly and association, the rule of law, and individual self-determination as common starting points, which the state is not allowed to restrict.

The word "liberal" in the term "liberal democracy" indicates compliance with the criteria defined by political liberalism. The idea of liberal democracy (liberal democracy) is ancient.

However, the term "liberal democracy" in its modern form is much younger.

Synonyms for the term also include "Western democracy" or "constitutional democracy."

The modern meaning of the word became more precise after World War II when Western democracies wanted to distinguish themselves from the concept of "people's democracy," which was adopted in countries governed by Marxist-Leninist parties. In the terms "people's democracy" and "democratic people's republic," the aim was to portray communism as a supposedly democratic model of state governance.

The ideological roots of liberal democracy go back to the late 17th century. As an adjective, the word "liberal" already emphasized equality in the 18th century, and the idea that a person should neither be subjugated nor be subjugating.

The English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) wrote in 1690, as one of the founders of the ideological basis: "Creatures of the same species and rank… should also be equal one amongst another without Subordination or Subjection.” (Second Treatise of Government, 1690).

Baron Montesquieu's (1689–1755) concept of the separation of powers was at the core of the liberalism of that time and the liberal democracy of this era.

The separation of powers doctrine strictly divides legislative, judicial, and executive powers from each other to prevent the abuse of power.

Later, the press, the media as a "watchdog of power," has been proposed as the fourth estate.

The two key elements of liberal democracy are the rights of the individual and minorities, and the constitution.

These are the two fundamental definitions of liberal democracy, which the European Union monitors, for example, in Poland and Hungary, as well as in other EU countries if they are threatened. An EU country must be a liberal democracy in its form of government.

As a state and form of government, liberal democracy is about the common fundamental values agreed upon by the EU. If a country is not ready to implement these fundamental values, it has no place in the union.

Countries with other forms of government have no place in the EU according to the Union's basic treaties.