Democratic Crossroads: Transformations in Twenty First-Century Politics - Paperback

by Richard Youngs (Author)

After more than a decade of democratic regression, three major crises have acted to reshape global politics in recent years: climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic legacy, and geopolitical conflict. In Democratic Crossroads, Richard Youngs argues these crises are altering the balance between democratic and authoritarian dynamics around the world. Yet while they add to the strains on democracy, they are also awakening a momentum of democratic resilience and renewal. He argues that to deal with the era's momentous challenges, democratic politics need a major boost and reboot. Without stronger commitments to uphold and improve democratic norms and practices, democracy may not weather these challenges. As Youngs shows, far-reaching democratic innovation that gives citizens effective influence over epoch-defining matters will help ensure that democratic values are more vigorously defended. In a moment of pivotal change, this book explains how democracies can retain their resiliency and highlights the key factors that will determine democracy's fortunes in the future.

Author Biography

Richard Youngs is Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and professor of international relations at the University of Warwick. He was previously director of the Fride think-tank in Madrid and senior analyst at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is co-founder of the European Democracy Hub and author of fifteen previous books, including Civic Activism Unleashed (Oxford 2019).