2024: A World of Elections

 by Camila S A

Two billion voters will head to the polls in 2024, with 64 countries holding elections, making it a record breaking year for politics. Elections represent change, a fresh start, and representation of the public ideologies, but what does it mean for so many countries to hold them in the same year?  Will this have a greater impact on global politics? 

Elections mean that global superpowers become weakened for a set period of time, as the change in leadership means there will be an unstable government whilst it takes time to adjust and settle. In Russia, there was the presidential election to appoint its leader until 2030. India is holding an election to appoint their Parliament and leader until 2029. The European Union held an election in June to appoint members of the European Parliament from 2024-2029. The UK is holding a general election to decide which party will be in power for the next five years. The US will have a presidential election in November. Combined, these elections will cover a population of around 3 billion people, and a GDP of approximately £56 trillion GDP. These results we have obtained and will obtain over the year will set the tone for the next ten years. 

The leading ideologies of nationalism and populism in the 2024 elections will have multiple repercussions in the process, as well as the results. Firstly, it means that protectionist tendencies will remain strong in most countries, causing ongoing unrest in areas such as global trade, as the tariffs keep rising and the borders keep strengthening, threatening economic exchanges between countries. This risk of protectionism will also be important in the European Union elections, where a more nationalist European Parliament and European Commission are likely to defend robust subsidies for farmers and factories across the region and tight screening for investment from countries like China. In countries such as these, protectionist ideologies will reign, pushing these countries away from others they see as ‘problematic’, such as Russia and China. 

This split of ideas encourages the constant use of an ‘'us vs. them’' rhetoric that often portrays foreign countries as enemies rather than competitors. This likely keeps a high risk of strained and forced diplomatic relations and maybe even potential conflict. The US-China competition is the most well known case, as the economic, technological and military rivalry between these two powers is set to continue and possibly intensify over the course of time. However, this ‘us vs. them’ ideology is worldwide. Violence could erupt due to religious ideologies, as it could happen in India if it elects another BJP government. In many European countries, immigration is an important issue, where right wing political parties are proving to be popular in current times.