Changes in the political order—globally and nationally—are part and parcel of human history. In 2025, the process of becoming less and less inclusive and democratic is seemingly leaving no country unscathed. The arc of history is bending in the direction of othering and continued oppression. According to V-Dem, 2025 marks the 25th consecutive year of autocratization (that is, of the world becoming even less democratic).
For the first time in 20 years, there are more autocracies than democracies, and if I am not mistaken, this just considers two regime types, leaving aside those that can now be considered mixed models, democratic in form, authoritarian in many practices. As IDEA’s team reports in The Global State of Democracy, “Representation, Rights, Rule of Law and Participation—the four pillars of democracy—are under strain, with unprecedented global declines in judicial independence, press freedom and electoral integrity.”
The trajectories towards more autocratic forms of governance look different across the globe, but share commonalities. This would suggest that counterstrategies can also be informed by shared learnings. Indeed, it is imperative to learn across contexts—not because events unfold identically everywhere, but because. . .
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Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author.
