Flip the Script: People Want More Democracy, Not Less

Bold and principled responses, rather than accommodation of autocrats, are the ticket to democratic successes

This essay is part of a new occasional series, “Flip the Script,” in which I question or refute commonplace assumptions about autocracy and democracy in the United States and around the world. Some of these assumptions are fueled by authoritarian propaganda, and others reflect thinking that I believe is outdated. This series is designed to spark our collective thinking: whether or not you agree with my arguments, you will have perhaps paused to consider how you formed your beliefs on the subject.

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It is no secret that people around the world are disillusioned with democracy. The 2025 V-Dem report, “25 Years of Autocratization – Democracy Trumped?” records 45 countries becoming more autocratic in 2024, up from 42 countries the year before. Such statistics would seem to support the narrative of a triumphal global march of autocracy, with millions supposedly abandoning democracy for political systems in which safety from racial and other enemies compensates for restrictions on reproductive, free speech, and other rights.

Authoritarians have always attracted people at times of uncertainty and transition, and they leave democrats in the dust when it comes to marketing themselves as innovators unafraid to take bold action. They have propaganda machines that suppress news of their failures and invent or exaggerate their accomplishments. This “authoritarian inflation,” as Péter Krekó calls it, has “profoundly affected politics and public opinion,” driving votes to authoritarians who seem far more powerful, influential, and competent than they really are.

In India, Hungary, Turkey, and elsewhere, authoritarians have been in power for years now (or for decades, as in Cuba, Eritrea, Cameroon, Russia, Iran and Venezuela) so that generations have been raised with disinformation that leads them to regard democracies with suspicion.

Democracies, too, are flooded with disinformation and malign influence from foreign autocracies that is designed to weaken them “from within.” Yet many democracies have engaged in self-harm, creating the conditions that have made authoritarian conversions easier. They have adopted neoliberal policies that have increased inequality and enabled the plunder of natural resources and the erosion of labor rights and social assistance. The mentality of competition rather than collaboration encouraged by neoliberal capitalism has contributed to a “loneliness crisis,” in economist Noreena Hertz’s words, which has left millions feeling “uncared for and powerless” – and vulnerable to the seductions of authoritarian populism.

Wanted: A More Democratic Democracy

One might therefore think that people are turning away from democracy because they have given up on the system. In fact, it’s the opposite. When we look at what people around the world tell researchers from V-Dem Institute, Pew, Open Society and other organizations about why they are disillusioned with democracy, we find this:

People want more democracy, not less. They want more of what democracy is supposed to be about —a voice in politics, greater equality, and a sense of community and guardianship of each other and the planet.

They want younger and more diverse leaders who are not corrupt and who care enough about them to fight for clean air and water and affordable education and housing and human rights at home and abroad. Citizens’ assemblies and other institutions of direct democracy are growing in popularity because people feel frustrated with elitist politicians who are not opening up the system to be more inclusive. As Mark Malloch-Brown of Open Society, which surveyed people from 30 countries in 2023, states, “they are calling for a representative democracy that is more representative and more democratic.”

A Citizen’s Assembly at work in the Republic of Ireland.

A September 2025 Pew study finds that the countries with the highest percentage of people who believe major or complete reform is necessary are those with current or recent experience with autocratic threats: Nigeria (91%), Israel (89%), South Korea (86%), and Brazil (87%) and the United States (77%).

Not Helpful: Strategic Errors of Accommodation and Mimicry of Far-Right Parties

Around the world, democratic parties and governments have been ignoring this demand for a more progressive political product and engaging in counter-productive accommodations of far-right views. In Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, Turkey, and other countries, they have responded to authoritarian threats by moving to the center in a defensive crouch, mimicking far-right talking points, and sometimes allying with right-wing parties. The resulting election losses have strengthened the authoritarian adversary and harmed their democratic credentials.

In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party has been on a self-destructive path. It has cultivated a profile as a moderate party while taking positions on trans people, funding for green energy, tax policy, and social assistance that skew right-wing. The result has been the largest first-year drop in popularity for Labour of any government in 40 years. When More in Common asked Britons what Labour leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood for, many answered “nothing.”

Where Does America Fit In?

America is different than most other countries fighting authoritarianism because it is a de facto bipartisan system. The Democrats are the only mass party available to lead the fight to reclaim America from autocracy. Yet the party is not built for flexibility. It is perceived as centrist, cautious, and beholden to billionaires and dirty energy. Even as climate change, gun violence, inequality and AI’s potential effects on jobs beg for bold measures, it has seemed unable to act on behalf of the people. In March 2025, the party’s popularity reached a record low.

Some believe that Democrats can only win elections by moving to the center, while others view this stance as dated and argue that a renewal of the ranks, overhaul of messaging, and opening to economic populism are essential. The desire for reform is undeniable. The huge turnouts in red and blue U.S. states for Bernie Sander’s ongoing Fighting Oligarchy tour are in line with what reports from Pew, Democracy 2076, and Third Way have found: there is “broad support for a number of significant structural changes to politics” to make our democracy more egalitarian and equitable. A September 2025 Gallup poll shows that Americans are less positive about capitalism (54%, down from 60% in 2021), while the number who are positive about socialism (39%) is holding steady.

Especially In a Bipartisan System, a Big Tent is Essential

Effective resistance against autocracies has always meant constructing a big-tent coalition, so we need to achieve unity of opposition. That means bringing centrists, disaffected conservatives, and progressives together, placing labor and the business community in dialogue, and accepting the defectors from MAGA who will inevitably, if slowly, appear.

I want to underline that unity of opposition and big-tent politics do not mean adopting right-wing talking points, or appeasing the aggressor. In 2026, we need less talk about statistics, and more concrete communications in which Democrats state how they will help those who are suffering. When corruption is blatant, and basic freedoms and rights are in jeopardy: it should not be hard to find common ground by developing platforms that foreground decency, care, and rule of law.

If we can take these desires for a more democratic democracy seriously and give people a better democratic product, we have a chance to win back votes from the disaffected and attract new voters, building on a trend that has already started as the costs of Trump’s smash-and-grab governance becomes clear.

One of my mottos is: Never Underestimate the American People. I believe that the United States can set an example for the world in the coming years. We can cast out the authoritarian plunderers and restore our freedoms, realizing democracy’s potential as the expression of equality and justice for all.