With the 21st century a quarter complete, illiberal democracy is the new global norm | Siva Vaidhyanathan

Many of the political ideas we thought were taken for granted at the end of the 20th century have cracked and crumbled

The three largest democracies in the history of the world will soon be ruled by intolerant authoritarians who leveraged celebrity and social media dynamics to achieve power.

In 2024, India re-elected Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi as prime minister for the third time. The United States has elected Donald Trump as president for the second, non-consecutive time. And in October, Indonesia elected as president the millionaire Prabowo Subianto, a former special-forces commander who was once married to a daughter of late dictator Suharto.

Siva Vaidhyanathan is a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy.