5 charts that show the state of global democracy in 2024

With elections being held across the world, 2024 is shaping up to be quite the year for global democracy. In fact, voters in eight of the 10 most populous countries are going to the polls this year.

Fresh off the back of votes in India, the European Union, the UK and France, US voters will participate in the presidential election in November. And there have been other significant votes in Mexico, Indonesia and South Africa, to name a few.

The outcomes are likely to shape geopolitical dynamics and international relations for many years to come, influencing critical global challenges like climate change, economic policy and international cooperation. And with the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 showing a world “plagued by a duo of dangerous crises: climate and conflict”, the stakes are high for newly elected leaders.

The report also highlighted how diminishing trust, political polarization and a volatile geopolitical landscape could limit the cooperative potential to tackle global risks.

Against that backdrop, this year of voting will also serve as a barometer for the broader health of democracy and shine a light on new and emerging challenges around misinformation, turnout and electoral integrity.

Misinformation and disinformation are key threats identified by the report, which underscored how they relate to elections.

“The spread of false information could significantly impact electoral outcomes and government legitimacy,” the report says. “This widespread dissemination of misleading content, facilitated by various tools and platforms, has the potential to exacerbate societal and political divisions.”

What’s also new is data and the application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to find and analyze public sentiment and voting patterns.

The integrity of elections is facing growing challenges.

Since 2000, 45 countries have experienced a significant decline in the free and fair nature of their elections, a report by the V-Dem Institute shows. These relate to the spread of misinformation, interference from foreign actors and the erosion of public trust.

In many countries, there is a disparity in voter turnout between younger and older people. The 2022 French elections saw a 16 percentage point gap, with 76% of 18-24 year-olds voting compared to 92% of those aged 50-59. This is even more pronounced in the UK and US, according to Our World in Data.

The trend underscores political disengagement among younger generations, and risks leading to an underrepresentation of their interests in the democratic process.

The 2024 UK General Election saw a decline in overall voter turnout, with 60% of eligible voters casting their ballots, the lowest rate since 2001, Statista data shows. That compares with the record of 83.9% set in the 1950 General Election.

Other factors that impact peoples’ likeliness to vote include literacy, wealth and development.

These charts underline the unique challenges that modern elections are facing and, unlike previous periods, where concerns have tended to focus on voting mechanics, the challenges are becoming more systemic.

That demands a holistic strategy to protect democratic systems and a comprehensive approach focused on the broader environment. Policymakers and citizens need to identify strengths to build upon and weaknesses to address to develop strategies that will bolster and protect democratic institutions worldwide.