The level of democracy in the world is in rapid decline, so much so that we can now talk about being brought back to around 1985. The number of countries undergoing autocratization is at record levels, 45 at the same time. Meanwhile, less than 1% of the world’s population live in countries that are democratizing. The 2024 “year of elections” was portrayed by observers as a “make or break” year for democracy. On balance, it seems to have more broken democracy than rejuvenated it. In this talk, Professor Staffan I. Lindberg, Director of the V-Dem Institute, presents the latest trends in democracy and autocracy around the world based on a just-released new wave of V-Dem data and this year’s V-Dem Democracy Report 2025.

Speaker:

Staffan I. Lindberg is Professor and Director of the V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg; PI of Varieties of Democracy; Wallenberg Academy Fellow alumni; co-author of Varieties of Democracy (CUP 2020), Why Democracies Develop and Decline (CUP 2022), and other books as well as over 70 scientific articles and numerous reports, policy briefs, and think-pieces. He has extensive experience as a consultant on development and democracy and as an advisor to international organizations, ministries, and state authorities. Lindberg is the principal author of the annual Democracy Report out of the V-Dem Institute.

Moderator:

Michael K. Miller is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. His research focuses on democratization, democratic survival, and autocratic elections and parties, and among his many publications is the book Shock to the System: Coups, Elections, and War on the Road to Democratization (Princeton, 2021). He is currently working on a book project on how autocracies determine their emigration policies and how this emigration influences democratization and civil conflict.