Comment by rich_sasha

Illiberal government moves the ceiling of what is possible, in particular for crime fighting but not only, without a guarantee of success.

At this level it's almost a tautology. Liberal governments choose not to do things because they would be illiberal, and illiberal governments don't mind.

It doesn't mean illiberal governments are better - on average, data would probably say otherwise, causation or correlation.

But undoubtedly, there are illiberal governments that achieve very good outcomes for their residents through illiberal means - surveillance, "streamlined" decision making etc. You can push the envelope of what the gov can do, at the expense of liberal values, and still achieve something else that's objectively good.

And the US is pushing this envelope for no benefit for its citizens, it would seem.