2024: The Year of “Angry Elections”

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Voters punished some leaders and rewarded others, while fringe ideas took root during a year filled with “political frustration,” which was clearly reflected in the elections.

This is how Foreign Policy describes the global electoral landscape in 2024: an image where contradictions intersect to create a different configuration.

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According to a report from the magazine, voters in over 60 countries, representing more than 40% of the world’s population, headed to the polls in 2024.

These countries include fully democratic regimes, entirely “authoritarian” regimes, and systems that fall somewhere in between.

The results of these elections revealed that voters punished incumbent leaders and rewarded newcomers, while fringe ideas, once marginal, managed to establish themselves in the mainstream political stream. This ultimately means that 2024 was a year of political frustration.

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Among the most striking examples of this discontent was the U.S. presidential election, where former Republican President Donald Trump reclaimed the White House after four years of Democratic rule.

In Iran, reformist Masoud Bezhkishian exploited the liberal enthusiasm of young voters to defeat his conservative and hardline opponents.

In the UK, the government underwent a historic shift in direction, with the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, winning a landslide parliamentary majority, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

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Even in cases where incumbent leaders managed to stay in power, the anti-status quo trend was evident.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) barely secured a third consecutive victory, only by forming a coalition with opposition parties.

In South Africa, the African National Congress lost its majority in Parliament for the first time since the end of apartheid.

The coalition led by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which had remained in power nearly throughout the post-World War II era, also lost its parliamentary majority.

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What Fuels the Anger?

The most obvious answer is economic dissatisfaction. In a global survey conducted by the Pew Foundation this year, on average, 64% of adults in the countries surveyed said that their country’s economy was in bad shape.

The issue of inflation, caused by rising prices after the COVID-19 pandemic, played a particularly important role in this year’s elections.

However, there was also a clear ideological dimension in the global election results, with several shifts toward the center-left, including the Labour Party’s victory in the UK.

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Foreign Policy offered an overview of the key elections this year:

Iranians… Voted for Change

When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suddenly passed away in May in a helicopter crash, the tragedy led to early elections to choose his successor, giving the Iranian people an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with his hardline approach.

Masoud Bezhkishian emerged as the winner after running his campaign on promises to meet the liberal aspirations of young Iranians. However, implementing this agenda is not easy, as the president does not have the final say in Iran, which lies in the hands of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

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Modi’s Power… At Its Peak

After two terms in office, it seemed that Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party had established themselves as fixed elements in Indian politics, shaping the country according to their Hindu nationalist vision.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s dominance seemed to signal its continued hegemony over the Indian political landscape for the foreseeable future.

But the election results mean not only the end of one-party rule over the Indian Parliament but also that the Bharatiya Janata Party has reached its peak.

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Mexico… Why a Woman?

Mexico did not allow women to vote until 1953, and over 75% of Mexicans considered their country to have a macho culture.

However, surveys this year showed that “61% of Mexicans said they preferred a woman to be their next president.”

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