What can be done to arrest the trend of democratic decline worldwide?

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is a Stockholm-based intergovernmental organisation that advocates for democracy worldwide. It has come out with a report on the health of democracies. Titled, ‘The Global State of Democracy 2024: Strengthening the Legitimacy of Elections in a Time of Radical Uncertainty’, the report has found that while one in four countries have improved in democratic metrics, a greater proportion – four out of nine – have declined. It also says that electoral participation has declined, one in three voters live in countries where the quality of elections has declined, and in what is clearly a dangerous trend, between 2020 and 2024, in one out of five elections, the losing candidate or party rejected the electoral outcome. Interestingly, the Report also found that disputes about the credibility of elections centred mostly on voting irregularities and vote counting. Coming to country rankings, the Report finds that India has declined on all four major categories of evaluation – Representation, Rights, Rule of Law and Participation. India is ranked 71 on Representation (a year-on-year decline by 1 place), 116th on rights (slipping down by 6 places), 80th on Rule of Law (down by 4), and 104 in Participation (down by 13 places). What is behind this democratic erosion – not just in India but across the globe? Why is voter turnout falling worldwide? And what can be done to reverse these worrying trends? Guest: Leena Rikkila Tamang, Director for Asia and the Pacific at International IDEA. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.