How have AI and new media altered electoral landscapes? What happens to democracy when capital and wealth becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few? Members of UCD’s new Centre for Democracy Research are addressing the fundamental questions confronting democratic societies today.

19 January 2024: (opens in a new window)2024 will be the biggest election year in history. Over 70 elections will take place in countries that are home to more than half the world's population.

However, evidence shows that democracy is on the decline internationally, as the number of eroding democracies and hardening autocracies increase. According to the (opens in a new window)Varieties of Democracy metrics 2023, 72% of the world’s population – 5.7 billion people – lived in autocracies by 2022.

The new Centre for Democracy Research at University College Dublin (UCD), a first of its kind for Ireland, will bring leading experts together to examine why democracy is waning and what can be done to revive it.

First appeared on UCD.ie on January 19th, 2024. Read the full article here.