Bob Edlin: The decline of democracy – can the trend be reversed?

The V-Dem Institute – an abbreviation of Varieties of Democracy Institute – is an independent research institute in Sweden which undertakes the V-Dem Project, a database that aims to conceptualize and measure democracy.

It defines democracy using seven key principles (electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual). And it distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian.