The three largest democracies in the history of the world will soon be ruled by intolerant authoritarians who leveraged celebrity and social media dynamics to achieve power.

In 2024, India re-elected Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi as prime minister for the third time. The United States has elected Donald Trump as president for the second, non-consecutive time. And in October, Indonesia elected as president the millionaire Prabowo Subianto, a former special-forces commander who was once married to a daughter of late dictator Suharto.

The 2020s are half over. The 21st century is a quarter complete. So it’s the right moment to consider this century as one during which so much of what we assumed was given, solid and established by the end of the 20th century has cracked and crumbled. We spend a lot of time dissecting the possible causes of one electoral result or another. But we don’t spend enough time pondering the longterm slide in the potential of a decent future for our species, one that respects human rights and allows for openness and deliberation about choices and policies.

We are used to hearing stirring defenses of “democracy” from those who oppose corrupt or authoritarian forces. Joe Biden made defense of democracy a central theme of his time in office. So........

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