For more than a decade, narratives of democracy floundering in crisis have become the norm, with global democracy indices registering year on year declines. Yet while many challenges – including populist leaders, shifts in identity, economic imbalances and political polarization – are real, the broader context of this moment is more complex than simple decline.
In a world where the climate crisis, pandemic threats and geopolitical conflicts converge, democracy is facing unprecedented challenges. These crises, if handled well, could create windows of opportunity for democratic renewal in many countries. At the same time, they threaten to intensify existing vulnerabilities to democratic erosion. They call for reworked analytical frameworks of political change and offer new insight into trends both towards and away from democracy.
The path forward will require leadership from a generation that understands the complexity of technological transformations, power shifts and social inequalities. It will demand new strategies to expose corruption, empower subnational counterbalances and reorganize opposition alliances. And it will require a renewed emphasis on prevention rather than restoration, with investments in safeguarding electoral oversight, strengthening civil society and defending judicial independence.
Whether democracies are struggling to cope with electoral manipulation, threats to judicial independence and other forms of abuse, or are facing authoritarian encroachment, they must act now. This guide offers practical steps for tackling these interlocking crises of democracy in crisis. Princeton Public Library staff have compiled and reviewed this collection of materials for those seeking to understand these complicated issues and find ways to make progress in support of democracy.
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