A global movement against the status quo

WITH SO MANY elections in big countries this year, it's a good time to look at how the politics of democracies is shifting. But this is no simple turn to the left or the right.

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In France, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally scored big gains in the first round of this year's legislative elections, but it was an alliance of leftist parties that surged in the second round. In Britain, the center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory over the centerright Conservatives. In Germany, the U.S., and Canada, it's the right that registers major gains in current polling.

If we look deeper than ideological labels-and beyond voters in Europe and the U.S.-an undeniable trend comes into focus: voters are fed up with incumbents.

In India, the party of still popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected an easy win with a record number of parliamentary seats earlier this year.