Four Democratic Trends to be Positive about on the International Day of Democracy

A quick glance at the news - particularly about democracy - may leave you feeling gloomy about the future. However, to commemorate the International Day of Democracy, we would like to shine a light on some encouraging trends in democracy around the world.?

Youth See Value in the Idea of Democracy - and Practice It in Their Own Contexts

We won’t sugarcoat it - youth these days don’t seem to be the most enthused about national-level democracy, as reflected by their low levels of participation in elections and distrust of institutions. But what some stories neglect to mention when they talk about youth is that, independent of their opinions towards economic or institutional arrangements, young people are still firmly invested in the ideas and practices of democracy. As demonstrated in a report from Democracy Moves, youth in a number of countries have grown in their appreciation of democracy by participating in it locally, such as through democratically-run youth labor unions, mutual aid groups, and art collectives.?

Youth have also been at the forefront of movements to restore democracy, the most recent example being student-led protests which ended over a decade of democratic decline in Bangladesh in August this year. What can we say? The kids are all right.?

One Region is Bucking the Trend?

You don’t have to search extensively to find commentary about democratic backsliding around the world - and we won’t spend time on it here. What we would like to point out is that, unlike much of the world, Latin America is seeing an upswing in democratization, buoyed by countries like Brazil and Bolivia which have successfully emerged from challenges to their democracies in the last few years. This is not to say that everything is rosy there, but we certainly hope that Latin America’s direction can be a sign of good things to come.?

Democracy Remains Important to a Convincing Majority Globally

Democracy is not just a system of government - it is a way of living, a way of organizing ourselves, and a way to solve problems peacefully. Even if citizens may not be the most confident in their elected politicians and national institutions, data from Alliance of Democracies’ Democracy Perception Index (collected from 60,000+ respondents in 53 countries) shows that 85% of those surveyed believe that democracy is important, which is an increase of 6% from 2019. This faith in democracy remains unshaken across countries, regardless of actual levels of democracy or transparency found within them.

Freedom of Expression Still Stands Strong??

The ability to freely express one’s ideas - whether through protests, petitions, writing, or any other method - will always remain a cornerstone of democracy. Conflicts and pandemics have unfortunately provided cover for some governments to curtail this right, but according to the University of Gothenburg, there are encouraging signs from democratizing countries that this trend may be on the wane. Notably, in eighteen such countries, freedom in academic and cultural expression has increased while government censorship has declined in recent years.?

No fight to defend democracy is won alone; as a system built by citizens, for citizens, it can only thrive when we are all invested in it. On this International Day of Democracy, we hope that you too will be motivated to contribute to the next positive trend in democracy.

Written by Alexander Boylston, writer and researcher at Assembly Voting.