Democracies around the world are failing. While last century was one of ending autocracy, capped off by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this century’s political winds are undoing that progress. While some democratic movements have been successful, such as in Tunisia, the reality is that more countries have gotten worse than better. Even the United States, which we like to view as the beacon of democratic values, has been listed as a backsliding democracy for the first time [1]. While the situation is urgent, it is not inevitable; by investigating why democracies abroad failed, we can learn about the causes and how they manifest, in order to fight back against this trend.
[1] Global Report | IDEA Global State of Democracy Report
*Not properly cited, but I wanted to include this report since this will inform a large section of the brief.
1.) Needs a title
2.) I thought you did a good job of explaining its exigence. By saying how the US is considered a backsliding democracy makes it relevant to us. I think you could probably bring in the partisanship of our nation right now as a reason why things aren’t getting done. This could be a roadblock to a successful democracy.
3.) I can see that you have a thesis, but it’s a little broad. Maybe you could add more specifics on what your suggestions will be. This way your reader will have a clearer understanding of where you’re going with your argument. As of right now, I can’t really tell where the rest of the argument is going besides just comparing international democracies.
1. Your title frames your discussion perfectly. I think I am also going to include a longer title in my issue brief because mine does not frame my topic as well as yours. The template we are using has a similar title, so I’m pretty sure you nailed it.
2. Your topic is unique in the sense that you will be drawing on different historical events to make a point. That said, nailing down one exigence is difficult since you are in essence writing about 5 different exigences. However, I think you tackled this problem well. Maybe you could add an example of the US backsliding as this could be what sparked a need to learn about the causes and “fight back against the trend”.
3. I like that your thesis frames the type of solution you offer. This allows me to understand how the argument will unfold and why discussing many countries is important. My only caution would be to constantly tie your information back to the thesis (and the US) because you don’t want your audience to get lost in the many examples you will discuss.