Four Elections in 10 Days Could Decide Democracy’s Future

Brazil, Israel, Serbia and the United States will hold elections within 10 days of each other. Together, the four contests could push global politics further toward authoritarian rule — or mark a limited comeback for democratic norms. In all four elections, basic democratic standards are at stake. The Sweden-based V-Dem Institute, which measures democracy using multiple variables, reports that the democratic freedoms of the average person worldwide have fallen to levels last seen in 1978 — long before the Berlin Wall fell and communism collapsed in Europe.