This talk provides the latest trends for democracy and autocracy in the world and across regions, based on the latest Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute. Among other things, the speakers will show evidence that the wave of autocratization is accelerating engulfing 43% of the world population; the number of closed autocracies now surpasses that of liberal democracy for the first time since 1995; and that autocratization often continues after breakdowns taking countries further into more harsh dictatorships. Rising polarization and disinformation, growing threats on freedom of expression, coupled with shifting global interdependencies on global trade and energy sources make for a worrying picture. At the same time, the talk will show that a record number of 8 countries have reversed their downward trends over the past 20 years and that mobilization, popular protests, judicial autonomy, and critical elections are some of the elements uniting these cases of democracy “bouncing back.” These development bare implications for both and research and policy.
