2024 is the year of elections. The US elections in November are already

attracting significant attention, but voters representing over half the

world's population are expected to head to the polls this year for consequential elections in virtually every

corner of the globe.

I'm Allison Nathan and this is Goldman Sachs exchanges. Every month I speak with investors, policymakers, and academics about the most pressing market-moving issues for our top of my report from Goldman Sachs research.

On this episode we'll hear from two of those experts from our latest report which breaks down

the 2024 elections.

We speak with Richard Haas, a veteran diplomat and former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Timothy Garden Ash, a professor of European studies at the University of Oxford.

Haas first gives us some context for the numerous elections taking place around the world this year.

He says these elections are occurring against a backdrop of democracies becoming more illiberal,

a trend he refers to as democratic backsliding.

Here's what he said in a recent conversation I had with him.

You've talked a lot about a backslide in democracy across really most democracies around the world.

So give us some of that context and tell us a bit about what's driving that.

There's a lot of evidence that democratic backsliding is a

general phenomenon. Democracy's or less if you will democratic more

illiberal. Clearly the United States is the most important example, but one could go around the world,

Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland, any number of democracies. Why this is it's an interesting question. I might do a little bit with

the economic performance. A lot of countries have run into rough economic times. COVID had an impact.

It's been harder for governments, for societies and economies to deliver.

And at moments when, if you will, the establishment cannot deliver, it sets up dynamics where those on the outside essentially populace in many cases gain an

awful lot of momentum.

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