Praying. 🙏

THE SUNFLOWER AND UMBRELLA MOVEMENTS: TEN YEARS ON 15 April 2024 Adrian Chiu

Since 2014, the world has become more acutely aware of the threats to democratic institutions, notably through the rise of populism within democracies. Noteworthy events include the Brexit vote in the UK, the election of President Trump in the US, and the emergence of populist leaders in Hungary, Brazil, India, and other countries. Though the relationship between populism and democracy is contested, the rise of populism demonstrates that this wave of democratic backsliding (?) happened more gradually and subtly than before. Instead of overthrowing democratic institutions explicitly, the undermining of democracies was often done under the mandate of electoral competition. The COVID-19 pandemic arguably further reinforced some of the advantages (?) of authoritarian regimes by imposing strict lockdowns and other public health regulations. The most blatant external challenge to democracy and international order was Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It was not just an infringement of the sovereignty of a nation-state; it also represents the growing confidence and assertiveness of authoritarian regimes around the world to impose their will on their neighbours, believing that confidence in liberal democracies – particularly in the Global South – is shrinking. Given these developments over the past decade, the conflict between democracies and autocracies feels much more intense than it did ten years ago. Consequently, if movements like the Sunflower and Umbrella protests occurred today, they would likely attract significantly more international attention as part of this heightened struggle.