When is it possible to declare that a society has moved from liberal democracy, however imperfectly realised, to authoritarian rule? Is there a moment when it is suddenly obvious the change has occurred? Does authoritarianism announce its arrival?
Or is it a process that gradually unfolds, where restraints on executive power are dismantled piece by piece until the tide cannot be reversed?
Is the turn to authoritarianism something that can only be understood after the event, when all opportunities to halt the slide have been missed?
And how do we admit to ourselves that we have been stripped of our most basic and cherished freedoms - of speech, assembly and protest - when we are no longer free to speak, meet or protest?
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
