- In April, then-Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suffered a lopsided defeat, ending his radically regressive 16-year reign, despite the White House’s intervention on his behalf.
- Incredibly enough, yesterday, the U.S. White House encouraged Orban to consider running for UN secretary-general, indicating that he will also be supported by Russian and China.
- New Prime Minister Péter Magyar, faced with significant challenges, seems to be moving ahead to uproot years and illiberalism and corruption to rebuild a Hungarian democracy.
- Then yesterday, the 14-year rein of Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic crashed, opposed by a progressive student movement.
- Also yesterday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a surprising fourth term, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair Bolsonaro, who four years ago attempted a Trump-type coup that failed and sent him to prison.
- First national voting since the Hamas-led attacks on 7October2023.
- Winners get four years to serve.
- Current Knesset has 120 seats and 13 parties. They have a unicameral form of legislature, and it makes the laws and selects president and prime minister.
- You probably did not know that the current president is Isaac Herzog. That is because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wields most of the power.
- Any party clearing an electoral threshold of 3.25% enters the Knesset.
- Coalitions determine who becomes prime minister and president.
Who is favored to become PM?- Netanyahu is leader of the Likud party and has been endorsed by Trump. Male dominated.
His challenger is former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot of the centrist Yashar party. Half of his followers are female.- Netanyahu is 77, while Eisenkot is 66.
- A quote: "Eisenkot is not left, he's not right. He's straight and honest. He's the kind of leader who will take care of us, the people of Israel, and not himself or his corrupt family."
- Another quote: The election is about more than just political survival for Netanyahu — it’s also about his personal freedom. Netanyahu is seeking re-election while also facing long-running criminal cases domestically on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, allegations he has dismissed as a politically motivated witch-hunt.
However, globally, over the past few years, here is what Google AI says:
The state of global democracy is largely down (experiencing ongoing decline or stagnation), though major indices offer slightly different nuances depending on the metrics used. [1, 2, 3]
Key Findings from Major Reports (2025–2026)
- International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA):
- According to the Global State of Democracy Report, 2025 marked the 11th consecutive year in which more countries experienced democratic decline than improvement.
- 57% of assessed countries (98 nations) declined in at least one key factor, while 32% (55 nations) improved. Rule of Law, Freedom of Expression, and Judicial Independence hit multi-decade lows.[1, 2, 3]
- Freedom House:
- In its annual Freedom in the World Report, global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, with conditions worsening across 54 countries due to wars, coups, and institutional erosion (though 35 countries showed improvements). [1]
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU):
- The EIU Democracy Index offered a slightly more stabilizing view, indicating a plateau or end to the sharp global recession, as 75% to 85% of countries either maintained or improved their scores. However, researchers note that this plateau masks underlying volatility, and only a small fraction of the world’s population (about 6.6%) lives in full democracies. [1, 2, 3]
Read the details: The Global State of Democracy 2026: Democracy in an Age of Conflict.
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