Odd Lots · Thursday, September 17, 2026
Francis Fukuyama suggests that revitalizing liberal democracy requires two key elements: reminding people of the dangers of authoritarianism and offering a positive vision for the future. He criticizes the current accumulation of rules and procedural hurdles in liberal societies, arguing that more effective and visible government projects, like infrastructure development, could help restore public faith and a sense of common purpose.
“I think we need to remind people about the dangers of the absence of liberal democracy. And you can see it right in the present world. Putin invades, does a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and gets into a bloody, bloody war that's now in its fifth year.”
“I think that the other part of the answer is that liberals need to actually have a positive program I don't think that you're going to beat back populism just by complaining about it, you know, bad as many of its programs and policies may be.”
“I think that you have to offer people some positive vision for how their future is going to look different. And this gets back into this narrative about building things, you know, that liberal societies, one of the big problems that I talk about at the end is they accumulate too many rules.”