Is state capacity sufficient to deliver consistent improvements in quality of life, even in the absence of robust democratic accountability? While Westerners long insisted that the answer must be no, China and other socioeconomically successful autocracies have demonstrated that the question is far from settled.
BERLIN – Liberal democracy is again under threat around the world. In many ways, we have seen such challenges before, and democracy has ultimately emerged victorious. Is a similar confidence warranted this time? Anti-democratic threats certainly do not mean the end of the system. But rather than clinging to the optimistic belief in democracy’s inevitable global triumph, its defenders must now adopt a realistic mindset grounded in empirical evidence – especially when the data challenge long-held assumptions and raise uncomfortable questions.
BERLIN – Liberal democracy is again under threat around the world. In many ways, we have seen such challenges before, and democracy has ultimately emerged victorious. Is a similar confidence warranted this time? Anti-democratic threats certainly do not mean the end of the system. But rather than clinging to the optimistic belief in democracy’s inevitable global triumph, its defenders must now adopt a realistic mindset grounded in empirical evidence – especially when the data challenge long-held assumptions and raise uncomfortable questions.