Authoritarian liberalism as a political concept : the evolution of ordoliberal ideas in the European integration process

The concept of authoritarian liberalism is presented as one of the relevant explanatory models of European integration. Authoritarian liberalism can be conceptualized as an ideological synthesis of semi-authoritarian forms of government and neoliberal economic goals. The emergence of this concept is associated with periods of economic crises, such as the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, and the Eurozone crisis. Ordoliberalism, representing a flexible, market-oriented form of authoritarian liberalism, refers to a rational strategy for maintaining and promoting economic neoliberalism, towards which the market economy and technocratic elite are converging as a means of contain crises and conflicts. While authoritarian liberalism explained in terms of the structural dominance of market capitalism over representative democracy may involve semi-authoritarianism in a technical role, this does manifest itself in overtly repressive or monocentric terms but is subject to democratic criticism in the process of regulating European integration