Few developments in the modern world have mattered as much to millions of people as democracy’s global rise. It has transformed the lives of billions by making them more humane and insulating them from despotic cruelty and arbitrary rule. Yet this remarkable development would have been impossible without the strength and support of a democratic superpower that promoted it aggressively and repeatedly rescued it from collapse.

Now, however, a global democratic future appears to be at risk. According to Freedom House, the number of countries designated as Not Free has grown for fourteen consecutive years and citizens in 64 countries saw their political rights and civil liberties deteriorate during this period, outnumbering those in 37 countries where their status improved.

While scholars studying global democracy are influenced by established literatures in political philosophy, IR and international law, they also contribute to the emergence of this field as an independent area of inquiry. In this literature, scholars probe how to make the world a more democratic place, with clear connections to a stakeholder model of global democracy in which those individuals significantly affected by decisions should have some say in their drafting (Goodin 2007).

There are many reasons for these trends, and they vary by region and country. But one is clear: America’s declining enthusiasm for promoting democracy may have allowed other illiberal actors to take its place. This has already happened in several cases: Moscow provided a backstop for the repression of the Belarusian regime, Beijing helped propel repression in Hong Kong and Turkey aided its ally in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh Region.