The notion of non-liberal democracy has become an inseparable element of the debate on the crisis of liberal democracy. For some scholars and journalists, non-liberal democracy is a consequence of the crisis of liberal democracy. It should be pointed out that when indicating the causes of this crisis in the economic, political, and cultural spheres, researchers rarely address the issue of the legitimacy of identifying democracy as non-liberal and its characteristics. Moreover, no one has initiated a broad debate on the possibility of a retreat from non-liberal democracy and the conditions that must be met to return to liberal democracy. That is why this paper attempts to describe the phenomenon called nonliberal democracy and analyse the conditions which should be fulfilled, both in political and social terms. It is to enable the return to the idea of liberal democracy.

Consolidation of the political system as a source of Russian political behavior in the international environment

The contemporary Russian Federation is undergoing a process of democratic regression and a return to the socio-political authoritarianism, traditional to the Russian political system. The detachment of decision-making processes from the will of the citizens means that elites follow their own logic of action while remaining outside democratic control. Thus, all decisions are taken in the interests of the elites, most of whom come from the secret services and the military. The consolidation of the political regime, the regression of democracy in Russian conditions, promotes a return to great power thinking and thus encourages aggressive behaviour. In the article, the author points out that the aggression against Ukraine, undertaken in January 2022, was preceded by a long-term process of consolidation of the political system and elimination from its structure of any check and balance mechanisms allowing democratic control over political decision-making processes.