Championing democracy at the UN: it is not who you may think it is

Each year in September, world leaders gather in New York for a general debate during the opening of the next session of the United Nations General Assembly. At International IDEA we examine the global development of democracy and we were interested in finding out to what extent government representatives refer to democracy in their statements at the assembly’s high level week. For this purpose, we reviewed all speeches made from 2015 to 2023.

The data reveals that democracy is an important theme in the global discourse. It was mentioned by more than three-quarters of the world’s countries in the UN’s general debates since 2015, countries from all regions and with all levels of democratic maturity. Despite the global trend of democratic decline, many nations—particularly in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean—emphasize democracy and its value in their speeches.

The study debunks the notion that democracy is primarily promoted by Western governments. At the UN general debate, the democratic discourse is actually led by “global majority” countries.

The study debunks the notion that democracy is primarily promoted by Western governments

This is apparent, for instance, when looking at the UN member states that most frequently mentioned democracy. Chile was the country that made most mentions of democracy, followed by the United States. Others that came out in the top mentions included Nepal, Peru, Liberia, Ghana, Mongolia, and The Gambia. From among Western countries, the top 20 list only includes the US, Spain and Sweden. Of the 101 countries that mentioned democracy most frequently (10 mentions or more), more than two thirds (70%) are from the G77+China group of developing countries. Only 13 of the top 101 countries mentioning democracy are OECD countries.

Overall, Africa was the region with the most references to democracy. The Middle East, the least democratic region in the world, came out last. A quarter (25%) of countries mentioning democracy frequently were non-free countries. These included for example Venezuela, Russia, Cambodia, Cuba, Belarus, China and Iran. 

Member States with a democratic system of governance tended to mention democracy more.  Forty-one per cent of countries who mentioned democracy at least 10 times were free countries according to Freedom House’s classification, and 21 per cent had high levels of democratic performance according to International IDEA’s assessment. Thirty-five per cent of the countries were partly free, and more than half of them (54%) had mid-range levels of democratic performance according to International IDEA’s indices.

The large majority (82%) of speeches referred to democracy as a system of government and a set of values in positive terms. Concerns about threats to democracy, such as authoritarianism, corruption, and disinformation, were also highlighted across all regions.

Our analysis of UN General Assembly speeches illustrates the ongoing relevance of democracy in global politics. The findings challenge the mainstream view that democracy is a Western preoccupation. The opposite is true in UN debates. They demonstrate widespread engagement with democracy across Africa, Latin America, and beyond.