Trend Mass protest still able to trigger change

Summary

The report finds that, despite the spread of autocracy, large demonstrations can still set positive developments in motion. Young people usually drive protest and resistance, which gives countries with young populations an advantage. In Bangladesh, Senegal and Guatemala, mass movements have led to political shifts or reforms. In at least nineteen countries around the world, democratisation is moving in the right direction, with Brazil, Montenegro, Timor-Leste and Fiji given as examples. The report counts this among the hopeful developments, alongside the resilience of civic movements in various countries and the growing number of places experimenting with citizens' assemblies. This passage follows directly on the account of rising autocracy and nineteen consecutive years of declining global freedom.