The rise of popular democracy
NOVANEWS
By Graham Peebles
In 1975 just 46 countries were considered to be electoral democracies. Forty years later, according to the Global State of Democracy report 2017, the number had risen to 132, accounting for 68 per cent of nations. The bulk of the increase occurred after 1989 following the collapse of the Soviet Union and what was to be the beginning of the global protest movement. While holding general elections every five years or so is an important step away from the autocratic alternative, unless democratic values are embraced and introduced true democracy remains little more than a slogan, social injustice and suppression in various forms continue and concentrations of power persist.
Although the number of electoral democracies continues to increase, throughout the world, ...