Democracy in Decline: What a More Authoritarian World Means for Global Security and World Order

Krithiga Narayanan hosts a conversation with Michael Coppedge, co-founder and principal investigator of the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-Dem), one of the world’s leading efforts to measure and analyze democratic change. Drawing on V-Dem’s latest global data, Coppedge examines how shifts within democratic systems are reshaping the international order and altering global power dynamics. The discussion explores how democratic erosion often unfolds gradually rather than through abrupt breakdowns, why electoral autocracies are becoming more common, and how changes in large and influential democracies, such as India, carry consequences that extend beyond national borders. Together, they assess whether coordination among autocratic leaders is strategic or ad hoc, what the data reveals about early warning signs of democratic decline, and where opportunities for democratic resilience still exist. Produced by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.Researched and hosted by Krithiga Narayanan; edited by Krithiga Narayanan