emocracy is in a temporary state of decline, but it is not necessarily in a permanent state of decline—nor is it experiencing an existential crisis. Like globalization, democracy has reached maturity. This is a natural outgrowth of the global transition from a bipolar to a unipolar and now a multipolar world. The fact remains that there are dozens more democracies and fewer non–democratic societies in the world than 50 years ago.
What is occurring within the community of democracies is as much a crisis of confidence as it is a decline of democracy.
There is little doubt that democracy is facing an era of significant threats. Externally, the 2009 global recession, the 2020 Covid–19 pandemic, climate change disasters, military conflicts, disinformation, great power politics and the rise of authoritarianism have been or are threats to democracies. Internally, democratic societies are struggling to handle disruptions caused by technology, social media, diversity, political polarization, weak education, lack of opportunity, and income inequality. Both sets of threats are undermining confidence in democracies.
Democracy has been under threat and in decline for over a decade and the trend is concerning. However, beneath the surface are some important variables that put the current situation in perspective. While imperfect and nascent democracies have experienced backsliding, a new class of nations, largely in the global south, have become more free. This year, more than 60 countries representing nearly half the world’s population will hold elections and populations continue to demand human rights and equality, spur young people to become civically engaged, and generate strong election turnout.
Democracies need to promote their built–in advantages. Democracies are more prosperous and have better living standards than authoritarian regimes—the Group of Seven nations alone hold almost 50% percent of global wealth. By contrast, authoritarian regimes attempt to offer prosperity through efficiency, undermining prosperity in the long–run.
Democratic nations need to demonstrate why they outperform authoritarian governments. This includes protecting individual rights, addressing disruptive factors such as technology, global security, trade and climate change, liberalizing representation in societies by expanding local control, and setting consequences for non–democratic behavior by authoritarian regimes.
In the end, what’s needed is a better explanation of democracy’s value proposition and the key elements of a new social contract with citizens. In doing so, the democracies of the world should gain greater confidence that they can halt the current backsliding and expand the 20th century democracy movement that they helped to create.
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Democracy under threat: a crisis of confidence
Photo by Arifur Rahman on Unsplash.
August 12, 2024
Democracy is in a state of decline, but that decline is temporary. Rather than an existential crisis, democracy is experiencing a crisis of confidence, writes Jon Gregory.
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emocracy is in a temporary state of decline, but it is not necessarily in a permanent state of decline—nor is it experiencing an existential crisis. Like globalization, democracy has reached maturity. This is a natural outgrowth of the global transition from a bipolar to a unipolar and now a multipolar world. The fact remains that there are dozens more democracies and fewer non–democratic societies in the world than 50 years ago.
What is occurring within the community of democracies is as much a crisis of confidence as it is a decline of democracy.
There is little doubt that democracy is facing an era of significant threats. Externally, the 2009 global recession, the 2020 Covid–19 pandemic, climate change disasters, military conflicts, disinformation, great power politics and the rise of authoritarianism have been or are threats to democracies. Internally, democratic societies are struggling to handle disruptions caused by technology, social media, diversity, political polarization, weak education, lack of opportunity, and income inequality. Both sets of threats are undermining confidence in democracies.
Democracy has been under threat and in decline for over a decade and the trend is concerning. However, beneath the surface are some important variables that put the current situation in perspective. While imperfect and nascent democracies have experienced backsliding, a new class of nations, largely in the global south, have become more free. This year, more than 60 countries representing nearly half the world’s population will hold elections and populations continue to demand human rights and equality, spur young people to become civically engaged, and generate strong election turnout.
Democracies need to promote their built–in advantages. Democracies are more prosperous and have better living standards than authoritarian regimes—the Group of Seven nations alone hold almost 50% percent of global wealth. By contrast, authoritarian regimes attempt to offer prosperity through efficiency, undermining prosperity in the long–run.
Democratic nations need to demonstrate why they outperform authoritarian governments. This includes protecting individual rights, addressing disruptive factors such as technology, global security, trade and climate change, liberalizing representation in societies by expanding local control, and setting consequences for non–democratic behavior by authoritarian regimes.
In the end, what’s needed is a better explanation of democracy’s value proposition and the key elements of a new social contract with citizens. In doing so, the democracies of the world should gain greater confidence that they can halt the current backsliding and expand the 20th century democracy movement that they helped to create.
