Elections this year could continue the drift away from democracy, or reverse it, asAlan Austinreports.

OF THE 40 or so elections to be held worldwide in 2026, several will significantly impact the direction of global alliances and the fortunes of people everywhere. Some could change Australias future, but for good or ill, remains to be revealed.

First, lets review the year just ended.

2025 over at last

Twelve months ago, this columnponderedthree issues regarding the year then beginning. Would dissatisfied voters worldwide continue to punish incumbent governments as in 2024? Would Australians emulate their American cousins and turf out a successful progressive party after a malicious campaign of blatant lies? How will a lifelong criminal grifter again leading the USA impact that nation and the world?

The new year offers opportunities for voters to make the world calmer and safer, but also for the opposite.

The answers are not as discouraging as they might have been. Elections in 2025 yielded mixed results, with setbacks for social progress in Chile, Germany and Singapore but encouraging results in Canada, Australia, Norway, Ireland and Romania.

Australian philosopher and global election analystCharles Richardsondissects all elections on his website,The World is Not Enough.

He told IA that future prospectsremain bleak:

Changed administrations

Voters exchanged progressive governments for conservatives in Germany, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Honduras. They did the opposite in South Korea, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and also in the New York mayoral race, where the young, charismatic, Muslim socialistZohran Mamdanitook charge of the city.

Conservative administrations were re-elected in Portugal, Singapore and Hong Kong, while reformists were returned in Canada and Australia emphatically in both cases.

OECDcountriesthat now have a woman as either head of state or prime minister (or both) are Australia, Italy, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Greece, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.

While this year saw the demise of the USA as a global leader, next year may reveal its successors.

Democracy still threatened

Destructive wars continued in 2025 in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine.

On the latter, Dr Richardsonnoted:

One feature of 2025 elections, including in Australia, was that most Trumpists were unsuccessful.

Richardson observed:

Through 2025, the USA experienced dramatic declines in internal social cohesion, the economy, respect for theConstitutionand the rule of law, and its globalauthority.

Suchindicatorsas we have suggest this has been the worst year since World War II for the U.S. economy. Inflation is surging, unemployment is increasing, manufacturing is declining, travel to the USA has plummeted, household debt is soaring and consumer confidence is close to the all-time low.

This is masked by President Trump havingsackedthe professional statisticians and installed loyalists who are credibly suspected of falsifying published figures.

Last weeks national accounts confirm Australia is back on a sound economic path.

Looking forward to 2026

New Zealanders willvotein October either to persevere with the conservative coalition led by PMChristopher Luxons Nationals or return to Labour underChris Hipkins, who was defeated in 2023.

Neither result should impact relations with Australia, as theAlbaneseGovernment seems able to deal with anyone,as proven last August when Albos long-dreaded personalmeetingwith Trump was hailed as a triumph.

Hungary may reject authoritarian leaderViktor Orbn, who scoreda strongvictoryfour years ago and has now been Prime Minister for two terms, totalling nearly 20 years.

The United States mid-term elections next November offer Americans the chance to shift control of the House of Representatives and the Senate from the Trump-dominated Republican Party to the Democrats. Should this eventuate with strong Democrat majorities, Trumps power to destroy his country and undermine global peace and prosperity may be curbed. He could conceivably be impeached foroffenceshe has committed since resuming the presidency, then removed and subjected to criminal prosecution.

This makes the November midterms undoubtedly the 2026 main act.

Other parliamentaryelectionsare scheduled forRussia,Israel,Thailand,Vietnam, Scotland and France. General elections which will determine both the parliament and the national leader will be held inSweden,Denmark, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru. Presidential elections are slated forPortugaland Iraq.

Looming risks for global security

According to Dr Richardson, Brazil is a major concern for 2026:

The greater danger, Richardson says, is that:

As this is written, earlyreportsof the USA attacking Venezuela are being aired.

Buckle up. This will be an exhilarating ride.

Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him@alanaustin001.

Related Articles

• Democracy, on the Government's terms
• 2025: Democracy under threat again, notably in the Americas
• Every vote is precious