Democracy contested
Think tank: Institute of Development Studies
Author(s): Shandana Khan Mohmand; Marjoke Oosterom
August 25, 2025
This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies looks at how people engage with democracy.
What has shifted us towards a more autocratic, rather than democratic, world? While there is nothing new about a politically divided citizenry, the current state of democracy strongly calls for an analysis of the diverse motivations of citizens to vote for leaders and parties that have promised outright they would undo democratic institutions.
The articles in this issue of the IDS Bulletin look at how people engage with democracy – their basis for voting for certain leaders. The authors discuss the ideas and narratives that underlie the expectations citizens have of what these leaders would deliver in terms of redistribution to enhance the welfare and the recognition of their rights as the voting citizens, at the repudiation of the rights of others.
