Major news outlets warn democracy imperiled globally in 2024, voters could make 'wrong choice'

Multiple news outlets claimed that the greatest threat to democracy around the world is voters electing right-wing leaders in 2024.

Various political crises, ranging from unprecedented waves of migration across the U.S. border and the Mediterranean Sea, to general criminality in the western world’s major cities, have caused voters to question the viability of certain liberal policies in the past few decades. 

Several publications have argued recently that 2024 will be a uniquely pivotal year for human history, as the electoral cycles in countries around the globe align. As The Washington Post reported on Jan. 3, "More than 60 countries, with some 4 billion people, are set to stage national elections in 2024. That means roughly half the planet could go to the polls in what could be the greatest rolling spectacle of democracy in human history."

The Post’s world affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor warned that "2024 brings [a] wave of elections with global democracy on the ballot" and that democracy "has ebbed over the past decade" in that "elections are still staged, but the underlying political culture seems to be shifting worldwide." 

Former President Donald Trump speaks at NRA rally (Associated Press/Michael Wyke)

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"In society after society, illiberal values and politicians who embrace them are gaining ground," Tharoor wrote, later noting that "pivotal elections in the United States — the world’s oldest democracy — and India — the world’s largest — may underscore a deepening public appetite for norm-bending strongman rule." Similarly, "elections from Mexico to the European Union to Bangladesh may each offer their own showcase of the growing traction of nationalist, authoritarian politics."

The Post specified that much like in the United States, "The far right’s steady capture of the political mainstream, fueled by public angst over migration and stagnating economies, may see its crowning moment in E.U. parliamentary elections in June."

The Post quoted journalist Maria Ressa stating during an address to the National Press Club in Washington that "We’re electing illiberal leaders democratically" and "We will know whether democracy lives or dies by the end of 2024."

Politico Europe editor-at-large Nicholas Vinocur voiced similar concerns in a Jan. 1 piece headlined, "Democracy is in peril in the world’s bonanza year of elections," and asked, "Is 2024 the year when democracy hits a tipping point and slides toward autocracy?" 

While Trump has made headlines for being targeted by the FBI and various prosecutors, which supporters say indicate he is being persecuted by the powers that be, Vinocur argued it is Trump himself who will weaponize America’s institutions.

"U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to weaponize democratic institutions against his political rivals if he wins re-election next November," the Politico article said. "His potential re-election is already spreading panic in Europe that he will turn his back on Ukraine — and indeed on NATO — freeing Putin’s hand to rebuild Russia’s empire and influence networks in Central and Eastern Europe."

Vinocur went on to warn that "far-right parties — perhaps most significantly in France and Germany — are building genuine momentum and turning into potential national governments that would be hostile to EU institutions in Brussels and Europe’s Muslims, while also being more sympathetic to the Kremlin."

Even if these parties won’t elect a dictator any time soon, the piece lamented that they would still be able to "exert ever greater influence over EU policies if they score highly" in the upcoming elections, and force local leadership to "step back from defending values that underpin democratic society."

President Biden and the mugshot of former President Donald Trump. (Getty/Fox News)

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Bloomberg opinion senior editor Tobin Harshaw penned a piece Jan. 7 with the headline "2024 Is the Year of Elections and That’s a Threat to Democracy." 

"41% of the world’s population is having major elections this year. Yay democracy! Right? Not really, what with extremist populist parties — mostly right-wing — on the rise everywhere from the European Union to the Pacific rim," Harshaw wrote.

He went on to quote newscaster Karishma Vaswani saying, "Asia-Pacific is seeing a significant increase in populism and authoritarianism, harking back to an era when strongmen presidents ruled with an iron fist." Vaswani went on to say, "Hundreds of millions of votes won’t necessarily mean more democracy."

The Atlantic contributing writer Brian Klaas wrote a piece Jan. 6 titled "Lots of People Will Vote This Year. That Doesn’t Mean Democracy Will Survive," and argued that "Dictators and even voters can turn elections into mere pageantry" by voting for the wrong political leaders. 

Klaas argued that "populists have surged in popularity" in places such as "Italy and the Netherlands, and, since 2016, in the United States." He appeared to at least partially blame this on "the breakdown of reliable information pipelines to voters—and their replacement with a splintered media space" rather than different values or ideas.

"The most pivotal election will take place in November, when the world’s most powerful democracy decides whether to turn itself over to an avowedly authoritarian demagogue," Klaas said, referring to the likely rematch between President Biden and former President Trump.

After arguing that electing Trump would turn the world further against democracy, he suggested that the very act of allowing voters to choose who they wish to elect could end democracy, "If they make the wrong choice, 2024 may be remembered as the year the world embraced elections without democracy."

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In a November piece headlined "2024 will be stressful for those who care about liberal democracy," editor-in-chief of The Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes warned, "In theory, it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite." She predicted a "nerve-racking and dangerous year"

"Many elections will entrench illiberal rulers," Minton Beddoes wrote. "Others will reward the corrupt and incompetent. By far the most important contest, America’s presidential election, will be so poisonous and polarising that it will cast a pall over global politics."

If Trump regains the presidency, she suggested he "would transform America into a loose cannon with isolationist tendencies at a time of grave geopolitical peril."

While his return to power is not guaranteed, even the chance of it happening, she said, is dire.

"Trump may not become the nominee, and if he does, he may well lose. But the odds of a second Trump term are alarmingly high. The consequences could be catastrophic—for democracy and for the world."