The ideas-free election

On the face of it, 2024 is a great year for democracy. Britain is one of 50 countries to hold elections, with a record two billion people globally expected to have cast a vote by Christmas. This is partly down to the growing number of democratic countries, particularly in the past three decades. Last year the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index judged two more to have made the grade, bringing the tally to 74. Alongside that, there is greater participation and wider suffrage.

In Britain the past five weeks cannot be said to have shown democracy at its shining best, though. Our political system has felt jaded. This is not because it isn’t functioning properly: the party leaders have dutifully agreed to debate each other on national platforms; there have been hundreds of constituency hustings; the issues at stake have been widely discussed.