This article is from a special report on the Athens Democracy Forum, held in association with The New York Times, where experts gathered in the Greek capital last week to discuss global issues.
When the first Athens Democracy Forum was held back in 2013, the discussions were about how to bolster and fix liberal democracy. The primacy and value of democracy were not in question; autocrats and populist movements were worrisome deviations that needed correction, but not existential threats.
Not this year. The talk at the Forum held Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 in the Greek capital often sounded more like a eulogy for democracy.
Consider some random jottings from various discussions: “This democracy thing is just not working.” “People are taking to the streets, not to a political party.” “We don’t think voting is sufficient anymore.” “Every effort at a global solution is blocked.” “This is democracy’s existential moment.”
It was not all doom and gloom as participants searched for “New Visions for Hard Realities,” to echo the title of the Forum. But it was the drumbeat of hard realities that echoed in the hall of the Athens Conservatoire.
Some 60 countries held some sort of election in 2024, noted Neha Sahgal, vice president of research at the Pew Research Center, and the bottom line was that right-wing nationalism was now mainstream. “It doesn’t matter what ‘should be’ in our mind,” she said. “This is the reality right now.”
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