In 2024, 40 countries around the world will hold national elections that will be an indicator of how much trust in democracy has fallen, says The Guardian. People from different continents and around the world are becoming disillusioned with democratic regimes. This is happening everywhere, from the US to India to Africa. Far-right parties are gaining popularity.
In the coming year, 40 countries around the world will hold elections that will shape global politics, The Guardian reports. Elections will be held in Russia, the US, India, South Africa, Iran, the UK, Ukraine, Finland, Austria, Taiwan, etc. The process will cover the entire globe.
This year will be a real test for democracy, as people from most of the countries where elections will be held are expressing their dissatisfaction with the regime.
Abrupt one-time changes in a large number of countries could lead to “further destabilization of an unstable world – for good or for bad”. For example, Taiwan’s election and its outcome will directly affect the confrontation between Beijing and Washington. If the Democratic Party wins, China’s reaction will be unpredictable.
The African continent is one of the main centers of discontent with democracy, the publication notes. The main reasons for discontent are “abuse of power, economic problems, corruption and electoral fraud”.
The democratic regime can be abandoned in Israel, the population is dissatisfied with the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Especially the situation in Gaza.
“Polls show that dissatisfaction with the current functioning of democracy is a common mood for all Western countries – mainly the United States and Europe, although they consider themselves the birthplace of democracy,” writes the author of the article. Many people believe that “current democratic systems favour the rich and powerful and ignore everyone else”.
Even more dramatically, Trump’s election victory could change the situation. He could fundamentally change US politics and the face of modern democracy.
Some seven in ten Americans said the state of democracy had deteriorated in recent years, while in France 73 per cent agreed. In the UK, more than six in ten people think democracy is working worse than it did five years ago.
Europe in general, extreme right-wing views and parties are growing in popularity. Such parties have recently gained power in Italy, the Netherlands and Slovakia. They will probably gain power in other countries as well.
So now democratic regimes around the world are on the brink and 2024 will be a defining year for them and for democracy in general.