Hayek argued democracy and liberalism can diverge, with democracy potentially turning anti-liberal

Evidence

Liberalism and democracy, although compatible, are not the same … the opposite of liberalism is totalitarianism, while the opposite of democracy is authoritarianism. In consequence, it is at least possible in principle that a democratic government may be totalitarian and that an authoritarian government may act on liberal principles … [in] demanding unlimited power of the majority, [democracies] become essentially anti-liberal (1967, 161). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2144

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the conceptual distinction Hayek drew between totalitarianism as the opposite of liberalism and authoritarianism as the opposite of democracy.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does this Hayekian frame — that majority rule can be anti-liberal — get revived in later defenses of unfettered markets against democratic demands?
• XREF: connects to: Democracy and liberalism can be decoupled and even opposed — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 235; Hayek blamed foreign ideas, not democracy itself, for liberalism’s decline. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 381; Hayek preferred a liberal dictator over a democracy that impinges on markets — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 363 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek claimed a self-limiting dictatorship can out-liberalize an unbounded democracy #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1638
• Hayek publicly defended self-limiting dictatorships as possibly more liberal than unrestrained democracy #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2151
• Hayek ranked freedom above democracy and would temporarily sacrifice democratic procedure for it #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2152