The World Is Short of Role Models for Democracy: End This Scarcity

The EU is too weak to replace the US as a beacon, but a few countries have surprised us with admirable democratic resilience

- DANI RODRIK

As a teenager growing up in Istanbul, I was lucky to be part of a generation that had democratic role models nearby. European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Sweden fueled our aspirations for prosperity and democracy, giving us hope for the future of our own imperfect polity. These countries' experiences showed us that economic growth, social justice, and political freedom were not only compatible but mutually reinforcing.

Where will today's youth look to find a similarly hopeful message? Liberal democracy once seemed destined to be the wave of the future. But now, democratic backsliding is a global phenomenon, with Donald Trump's America only the most visible and dramatic example. Since the early 2010s, 'electoral autocracies'—regimes that hold periodic elections but under pervasive repression—have become the dominant form of government around the world. Nearly 220 million fewer people live under liberal democracy today than in 2012.

Moreover, 'electoral democracies'—a form of regime that can pave the way for liberal democracy—have also lost ground, governing 1.2 billion fewer people today than in 2012. These regimes have been replaced by electoral or outright autocracies, which now rule over 5.8 billion people (2.4 billion of whom have been added since 2012).