This story is from Democracy Digest:

Some warn that the current identity-driven populist discontent will cause democracies to die—an outcome that its foes, championed by Vladimir Putin, have schemed to bring about, The Economist reports:

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), our sister organisation, has been compiling a democracy index since 2006. Last year’s score was the worst ever. Covid-19 has accelerated the decline…..The threat is not from military coups but governments in power. Given time, unscrupulous leaders can hollow out democracy completely. Two decades ago Venezuela held meaningful elections; today it is about to eliminate the last kernel of opposition (see article). But even in countries where such a calamity is unthinkable, the erosion of norms and institutions leads to worse government. To reverse this, you have to understand what has gone wrong.

Read the full perspective here.