Four pivotal elections in past two weeks show power of grassroots activism to push back against authoritarianism A sequence of four pivotal elections over the past two weeks in disparate regions of the world has inflicted significant setbacks on authoritarian leaders, and inspired renewed faith that democracy is more resilient than had been feared. The elections in Brazil, Serbia, Israel and the US were held in widely varying circumstances with unique factors, but each showed the power of grassroots activism to produce surprises that pushed back against would-be autocrats and could perhaps begin to reverse a worldwide drift towards authoritarianism. Continue reading...