Nearly every day, the news is focused in some way or another on threats to democracy around the world.
In Europe, there are concerns over wavering Brexit plans, and what it means for democracy in the UK and its relationship not just the EU, but other allies around the world. Autocrats like Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China are both testing the limits of democracy and feeling pressure from their neighbors in places like Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Hong Kong. Narendra Modi’s crackdown on dissent and other freedoms is rocking the foundations of democracy in India. Populist leaders like Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Joko Widodo in Indonesia, Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines are eroding individual rights and deepening corruption in their respective countries.
Even here in the United States, some are claiming that the end of American democracy as we know it has arrived. And in looking back on the wisdom of one of our country’s Founding Fathers, John Adams perhaps foreshadowed our current moment when he said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosted a series about the threats, opportunities, limits, and future of democracy at home and around the world.