2024 will long be remembered as the year of elections, when over half of the global adult population will exercise their right to vote in dozens of democratic states. At first look this seems and feels like a thrilling application of the freedom to choose one’s leaders and be a stakeholder in a nation’s future. Is this not a time when followers reign supreme, a moment when power is held to account….

But is the ability to express choice really a true exercise in democracy? Elections as important instruments of democratic process and democracies themselves, are themselves problematic…

These elections are happening at a moment in history when we are feeling a global shift away from liberal democracy towards more authoritarian regimes which some have called a ‘democratic recession’, and it is perfectly possible that global populations will ‘vote’ to reinforce this shift.

But this is the first time in our long history that liberal democracy is the dominant political system globally -we are in reality close to a peak of a global political boom, not in recession! And in the past, research shows that on average, democracy is good for living standards -and one risk is that a democratic recession may increase the likelihood of economic downturn. If as appears to be the case in the 20^th Century, democracy raised living standards and human security for many, this does not seem to be inevitable in our contemporary world.

What else must we be sure of as we contemplate both the erosion of trust in our systems and leaders, the fragmentation in our communities and the rise in conflict between them? Can democratic systems continue to support the peaceful transfer of power and adapt to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world, where uncertainty, the unknown and multiple crises prevail with huge changes to geo-political power? Competition, fear and mistrust appear to be working to make conflict more likely, but the worse-case scenarios need not be inevitable.

In these febrile times what positive lessons can leaders and leaderships learn from our experience? How can they help avoid the destructive powers of global conflict that threatens to remove generations of human progress?

Leading global thinkers from the academy and from practice discuss this democracy-with-purpose issue. Can the democratic systems of our past traditions be protected and re-invigorated and create the conditions for a more peaceful and secure world?