In an election year that will be recorded in the annals of history, global leadership faced major upheavals. One of the most alarming instances for those in the United States marked the downfall of the once Vice President Kamala Harris to the now President-elect Donald Trump – a revealing statistic in a broader landscape that spans across India to Austria, Botswana to South Korea, and from Britain to Uruguay.
This vast footprint of democracy accounted for more than 4 billion people who exercised their franhise in 2024. As the final tally emerged from the flurry of votes, an undeniable trend indicated drive from the populace towards change: the steady waning of incumbents’ vote shares not only in developed nations, but progressively in developing countries as well.
This year bore witness to an exceptional anomaly, tracing back to a century, where each incumbent party shrank in popularity in all the developed countries that held elections. However, even these isolated seeming triumphs were tainted: Mexico’s governing party’s victory in June was preceded by constant incumbent defeats in Latin America, and Ireland’s government barely retained power in November, its support frayed at the edges.
While each participating nation was plagued by its own set of problems and imbroglios, the common denominator emerged to be the challenging post-Covid economy. The pandemic had left an indelible impact on the global economies, leading to significant price hikes as a consequence of disrupted supply chains, which persist unmitigated.
The escalating dissatisfaction among the masses with public organizations was reflective of this crisis. A small number of Conservatives that clung onto their seats was punctuated by the party’s former head, Iain Duncan Smith. This wave of economic distress was also clearly felt in Japan, a nation grappling with years of economic lethargy now confronted by escalating prices.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was barely able to retain authority, leading a minority government teetering on the brink. Narendra Modi, India’s authoritative prime minister, too fell short of a parliamentary majority in June.
Amidst this turbulence, certain regions found their anxieties around the economic conditions conflated with fears around large-scale immigration. French President Emmanuel Macron ceded ground to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally amid hasty summer parliamentary elections. Parallely in Belgium, the right-wing nationalist New Flemish Alliance along with the far-right Vlaams Belang party overshadowed the liberal coalition in power.
These phenomena repeat an old pattern, with right-wing parties typically gaining traction when the economy is grappling and immigration rates are high. A wind of discontent seems to be stirring, as individuals are not only losing faith in their governments but grappling with discontentment in their own lives.
A study by Six Seconds exposed a decline in global well-being, dropping for the fourth consecutive year, portending a post-pandemic emotional recession marked by decreased well-being and rampant burnout. In light of these mistakes made by politicians and public outrage intensified to which no consensus could be achieved, it’s hardly surprising the ballot boxes delivered a changing of the guard.
It is clear that the tumultuous post-Covid landscape has created a disruptive political climate across continents. Unable to manage the strife brought about by a bundle of economic hardships and societal changes, incumbent governments were ill-equipped to maintain voter faith.
Rather than uniting under these challenges, societies have shown a propensity for factionalism, often leaning towards the far right. This has culminated in the resurgence of nationalistic sentiment and a rejection of liberal values, with parties like Le Pen’s National Rally and the New Flemish Alliance party benefiting from the shift.
Meanwhile, the ongoing ’emotional recession’ is likely to exacerbate these issues, with public dissatisfaction not set to diminish anytime soon. As governments around the world fail to meet the challenges of this new post-pandemic phase, the global citizenry’s burgeoning disenchantment seems to be propelling a continued overturning of the political status quo.