You got your democracy back. Now what?

Donald Tusk speaks during election convention in Katowice, Poland, on October 12, 2023. | Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The thing about elected authoritarians is that they sometimes lose elections. Such was the case in 2023 with Poland’s Law and Justice party. 

Key takeaways

• After a period of democratic backsliding, governments that want to restore democratic rule face an “illiberal trilemma”: They seek to unwind authoritarian rule legally, quickly, and effectively ...