It was assumed that globalisation would promote democracy and liberal ideas in autocratic states. Yet the Economist Intelligence Unit’s most recent analysis recorded another decline in democratic governments. Currently only 45 per cent of the world’s population lives in a democracy, 39 per cent under authoritarian rule, and 15 percent in “hybrid regimes” that combine electoral democracy with authoritarian tendencies. Rather than democracy spreading to autocratic states, autocracy is spreading to the democratic world. To stop this global trend, work needs to be done to restore public trust in democracy.
First published as a letter to the editor, The Age, 6 September 2025