“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.… (International Churchill Society, 2016)”- Winston Churchill, 1947

The V-Dem Institute’s 2025 annual report analyzed the state of democracy in 179 countries (Nehme, 2026, Democracy without Borders). Presently, there are 91 autocracies (56 electoral and 35 closed) and 88 democracies (29 liberal, 59 electoral), with the trend of autocratization persisting. Liberal democracies remain the rarest form of government, yet they are widely regarded as superior. Aren´t they?

Letting the Democracy Perception Index (DPI) 2026 speak, people all over the world still express a strong belief in the idea of democracy; however, they simultaneously show dissatisfaction about how governments put the idea into practice, leading to anti-democratic behaviour at the poles (Nira Data, 2026). So, it rather seems to be individuals´ and parties´ decisions in elevated positions within democracies who obfuscate democracies´ reputation, as people living in non-democratic countries still show their wish for a democracy. Needless to say, that there are always and always will be people, with opposing views or the wish for a more autocratic democracy, yet it is crucial to mention that the democracy enabled this diversity of opinions in the first place.

This is why I see the need to interrogate what may justify a democracy, so that even people who are not in the least satisfied with the current state of their respective democracies acknowledge their potential.

It is precisely this potential, which has already been recognized centuries ago, by philosophers, merchants and economists, such as Mill, Rousseau and Plato, who justified democracy both instrumentally and intrinsically (Christiano, Bajaj, 2024, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Instrumentally, it may produce better outcomes by making governments responsive to citizen´s interests, aggregating diverse knowledge and perspectives, while also encouraging autonomous and responsible citizens. It can as well help address collective-action problems and protect fundamental rights. Intrinsically, democracy presents itself as a form of self-government: Those subject to political decision should have an equal say in shaping the conditions under which they live, which also grounds arguments from quality and public justification, since democratic procedures are supposed to treat citizens equally and require decisions to be open to free, reasoned discussion.

Yet, these justifications remain contested: democracy may suffer from uninformed voters, manipulation, and majority domination, while thinkers like Plato argue that political expertise may be sacrificed to popular appeal. Consequently, it becomes increasingly evident that even promoters of democracy address a wide range of issues which might occur, even when disregarding politicians´ behaviour, potentially dissatisfying the people. Despite this, democracy is still praised as superior, and as these justifications do not seem to be decisive, it is now about interrogating the reasons why. (Nira Data, 2026) (Nehme, 2026, Democracy without Borders)