This year will see more elections than ever. But don’t call it a win for democracy.

LONDON — This year, more than any in recent memory, global democracy rests on the edge of a knife: Never before will so many people around the world have the opportunity to vote, but rarely have democracy’s core tenets been so fundamentally threatened.

In 2024, around half the world will go to the polls — some 4 billion people in 76 nations — the most of any year on record. Some of these elections will be widely considered fair, such as those already held in Taiwan and Finland; others are likely to have a thumb on the scale, with leaders shackling opponents and the media, as in Rwanda. And the so-called votes in Russia, North Korea and elsewhere will be an outright sham.

The pivotal centerpiece, even for many outside the United States, will be the anticipated contest between President Joe Biden and his presumed opponent, former President Donald Trump. Still baselessly rejecting his loss in 2020 and vowing to crack down on his opponents if he wins this year, Trump is a man many see as a threat to democracy, not only in America but around the world.

“This is a big stress test for democracy globally,” said Kelley E. Currie, who has held senior State Department roles, including under Trump, for whom she was the U.S. ambassador for global women’s issues. “The autocracies are linked up and working together,” she said, adding that “2024 will be an important inflection point for us.”

Charles Parton, a British diplomat whose 40-year career has included postings in China, Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Libya, agrees. “Democracy is suffering from a virus; it is not well at present,” he said.

This is not an overnight crisis but rather part of a yearslong process.

Democracy has been on the slide since 2016, according to the Economist