Editorial: The New York Times

• Democracy is in global crisis due to the election of authoritarian leaders fed by public discontent over economic woes, rapid social change, mass migration, disinformation and general malaise.
• Populists seem to be making inroads everywhere in Europe and the world in an apparent loss of faith of the workers in the established order and globalization.
• However, common perception of a universal democratic backsliding could be overstated and doesn't necessarily imply an imminent collapse of liberal democracy.
• Popular discontent may have broadly similar sources in Western democracies but political consequences vary with the leaders and systems in each country.
• Public opinions appear more a passive reservoir to which leaders respond, and which the less principled exploit.
• The historical perception limited to the post-collapse of the Soviet Empire period could be feeding an illusion of a broad democratic retreat.
• Fear of disappearance of global democracy is more a patchwork of storms than an extinction event.

Conclusion: Although democracy is facing serious challenges and warrants vigilance, it has weathered various storms in the past and is likely to find ways to navigate present times.

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