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Daron Acemoglu: ‘If Democrats think everything can go back to normal, it will be a dangerous victory’
Economist Daron Acemoglu warns that liberal democracy is in crisis and may not survive the end of the next decade. In an interview about his new book, he argues that Democrats treating an election victory as a return to normal would be dangerous, because the causes of democratic decline would remain.
Acemoglu points to weakening trust in institutions, polarisation and declining support for centrist parties, alongside growing inequality and poorer public services. He links these trends to globalisation, automation, social media, weakened community ties, migration pressures and politics shaped by money and spectacle; he argues that democratic renewal requires addressing these underlying forces.
In short
- Acemoglu says liberal democracy faces a deep crisis.
- An electoral win will not restore the old normal.
- Inequality, polarisation and weak public services are among the pressures.
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The case for
Acemoglu’s warning is persuasive because an election victory cannot by itself restore public trust or address the inequality, weak services and political alienation that can erode democracy. Treating a change of government as a return to normal may leave those pressures unresolved and allow democratic decline to continue.
The case against
An election victory can still be a meaningful democratic correction, restoring institutional safeguards and giving voters a chance to change course; it need not imply that deeper problems have vanished. Warning that democracy may not survive the next decade could also overstate the certainty of decline, while broad explanations spanning technology, migration and globalisation may underplay the role of political choices and the resilience of democratic institutions.
Explained simply
Daron Acemoglu is an economist who studies how political and economic institutions shape societies. Liberal democracy combines elections and political freedoms with institutions such as courts and a free press that can limit government power.
In the United States, the Democratic Party is one of the country’s two main political parties. Acemoglu’s concern is that winning an election would not, by itself, rebuild trust in institutions or resolve divisions, inequality and dissatisfaction with public services.
These debates matter beyond one election because they concern whether democratic systems can respond to people’s needs and retain their support. The pressures he identifies include changes in work and technology, social media, migration and the influence of money in politics.
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