2024 is a year of elections, but can it really be said to be a year of democracy? According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, almost half of those elections won’t have been free and fair; and fewer than 8% of the world’s population now lives in a “full democracy”, and the EIU’s Democracy Index score for the world as a whole has fallen to its lowest ever level. But there is another truth. Across the world and at every scale of governance, from local to national to supranational, a bigger idea of democracy is emerging. Jon Alexander will give us a view of this new world, drawing on examples ranging from Taiwan’s crowdsourced Covid response to Malawi’s systems for local budget accountability to the growing movement for a Global Citizens’ Assembly as part of the United Nations. Best of all, we can all play our part in this work of renewing democracy – and Jon will show us how.