Liberal Democracy Is Staging a Comeback

Chris Kleponis - Pool Via Cnp/CNP via ZUMA

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I want to share a few recent headlines with you:

  • Pushback on Xi’s Vision for China Spreads Beyond U.S.
  • The broad coalition uniting to try to take down Viktor Orbán
  • Boris Johnson’s Post-Brexit Plan for Britain Remains a Puzzle
    U.K. prime minister’s policies so far don’t suggest he wants to embark on a Margaret Thatcher-style economic revolution
  • Breaking down President Trump’s final 23 days in office, upcoming Biden administration

Fears of military coups to the contrary, Donald Trump is gone. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is facing a united opposition for the first time. More and more countries are getting fed up with Xi Jinping’s autocratic nationalism. Boris Johnson’s worst impulses seem to have been neutered.

For the last year or three, it’s been common to bemoan the decline of Western democracy. Exhibits A-F were the various nationalist populists who had taken power in countries around the world. But it doesn’t look nearly as bad these days, does it? It’s true that the news isn’t all good: Jair Bolsonaro is still screeching around in Brazil and Poland is still controlled by the deeply illiberal Law and Justice party. But the news is never all good. Generally speaking, liberal democracy sure seems a whole lot more resilient than it did a few years ago.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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