Our World in Data · Mens en maatschappij

The long-term rise of electoral democracy

While many people globally believe democracy is a good form of governance, they are often dissatisfied with its practical implementation and future prospects. Despite recent declines, a historical perspective reveals significant progress in democratic institutions over the past two centuries.

Globally, people generally view democracy favorably but express dissatisfaction with its current state and direction. This sentiment aligns with expert assessments indicating a decline in democratic features like free elections and civil rights in numerous countries over the last decade.

However, a broader historical view shows remarkable progress. The world was once deeply undemocratic, and despite setbacks, it is far more democratic now than half a century ago. This progress was not linear, with rights and institutions built through both victories and defeats.

Understanding this longer trajectory helps appreciate existing democratic institutions and the continuous effort required to protect and expand them. This article examines the development of electoral democracy over the past 200 years, focusing on the spread of elections, expansion of voting rights, and growth of political competition.

In the late 18th century, leaders were typically chosen by inheritance, force, or elite negotiation, with monarchs holding hereditary power and parliaments often filled by aristocrats. Over the subsequent two centuries, this shifted dramatically, with most leaders and parliament members now elected.

Data from the Lexical Index project shows that in the late 18th century, only the UK and US had both elected parliaments and governments. By the mid-20th century, elections became the predominant method for selecting political leaders worldwide, with 165 countries having elected parliaments and governments by 2025.

The spread of elections has been uneven, with rapid progress after World War I, in the late 1950s-1960s, and at the end of the 20th century, interspersed with declines during World War II and the early 1970s. Currently, 165 countries have elected parliaments and governments, down from a peak of 176 in 2016 due to recent coups and civil wars.

Two centuries ago, voting rights were a privilege of the powerful, heavily restricted by gender, income, race, or religion. Over time, most of these legal barriers have been removed, extending the right to vote to nearly all adult citizens, though age, citizenship, and criminal convictions remain restrictions.

While some countries broadened voting rights for men in the mid-1800s, New Zealand was the first to grant universal voting rights to women in 1893. Progress accelerated in the latter half of the 20th century, with fewer than two dozen countries having universal voting rights post-WWII, increasing to nearly 150 by the end of the Cold War. This number has recently fallen as some countries ceased holding elections.

Electoral democracy also requires meaningful political competition, allowing citizens to hold leaders accountable. Historically, elections often lacked real competition, with single candidates or manipulated results. However, in recent decades, elections have become more competitive, with voters having more choices and fraud being less likely to alter outcomes.

Measuring electoral competition through changes in government (electoral turnover) reveals it is a more recent development than elections and universal voting rights. While rare in the early 19th century, competition saw waves of growth after WWI and significant expansion in the 1990s, with 111 out of 199 countries experiencing recent electoral turnover by 2025.

The article defines "electoral democracies" as countries with elected governments and parliaments, universal voting rights, a political opposition, and competitive elections. No country met all these conditions until 1893 in New Zealand. Democracies became a majority only in the 1990s, with 117 countries qualifying by 2025, though this number has decreased from a high of 130 in 2015.

Considering population, fewer than a million people lived in democracies in 1900 (all in New Zealand). This number grew significantly throughout the 20th century, reaching about 4 billion today. However, the global population is still almost evenly split between those living in democracies and those who are not, with recent backsliding reducing the number of people in democracies by around 400 million in the last decade.

Over the past two centuries, politics has fundamentally become more democratic, granting billions more people a say in decisions affecting their lives. While not all rights are universal, and concerns about democracy's future are valid, understanding this historical progress offers perspective on the current moment.

The development of democratic institutions over 200 years, overcoming significant odds and setbacks, demonstrates that political change for the better is possible, often beyond contemporary imagination. This history underscores that democratic rights are not guaranteed but can be achieved and expanded.

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