What is the state of global democracy?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

1. Based on the data from the visual above, about what portion of the world is currently democratic?

2. Based on the data from the visual above, describe one long term trend (since about 1800) that you see in the data.

3. Based on the data from the visual above, describe one short term trend (since about 2000) that you see in the data.

4. The word Democracy comes from Greek for “rule by the people,” which means that ultimate political power belongs to the people. According to Michael Mandelbaum, the democracy scholar and author of Democracy’s Good Name, democracy depends upon free and fair elections and civil rights and civil liberties for all. Define Democracy in your own words.

5. Using your definition above, and the data from the visual below*, the current American government system is most like which of the following types of government?

   Closed autocracy: citizens do not have the right to choose either the chief executive of the government or the legislature through multi-party elections

   Electoral autocracy: citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature through multi-party elections; but they lack some freedoms, such as the freedoms of association or expression that make the elections meaningful, free, and fair

   Electoral democracy: citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature in meaningful, free and fair, and multi-party elections

   Liberal democracy: electoral democracy and citizens enjoy individual and minority rights, are equal before the law, and the actions of the executive are constrained by the legislative and the courts.

6. 200 years ago, nearly everyone lacked democratic rights. By the year 2000, billions of people had them. Some people think that democracy expanded in the 20th century because the world grew richer, others believe democracy rose as education increased, still others simply think that democracy expanded as humans evolved to be more kind. What do you think was the biggest cause of the 20th century trend towards global democracy?

7. Global democracy peaked in about 2000. While democratic rights have spread far, they are also still far from universal, and there have been recent setbacks since 2000. Even though many people now have them, the total number of people not having democratic rights is higher than ever. This is because the world's population grew faster than democracy spread. And some people have recently lost political rights; most prominently the 1.4 billion people living in India, which became an electoral autocracy in 2017. This means that now more than two thirds of the world’s population live in closed and electoral autocracies. How do you think social media and AI have contributed to this move in an anti-democratic direction?

8. Democratic backsliding is the process by which a functioning democracy deteriorates, often through the gradual weakening or dismantling of democratic institutions, rules, and norms by elected leaders. This hollowing out can include actions like restricting civil liberties, undermining the rule of law, weakening independent judiciaries, and manipulating elections, often done under the guise of democratic processes. Even the United States is experiencing serious democratic backsliding as it moves towards electoral autocracy. Based on the chart and the recent global slide away from democracy, predict the state of global democracy in 50 years. 

9. Based on your knowledge of American politics as well as the definition of democracy above, make a claim about whether the U.S. will continue democratic backsliding?

10. As we have discovered, democracies all have free and fair elections and protect individuals’ civil rights and civil liberties. Think about the current state of democracy in the United States and list the most powerful step the U.S. could take to increase American democracy.

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Contact President Donald J. Trump and suggest one thing he could do to strengthen American democracy.

Get Creative

If democracy were a Marvel super hero what would it be?

Learning Extension*

Explore Our World In Data: Share of Democracies and read the introduction of Michael Mandelbaum’s Democracy’s Good Name