Democracies across the globe are at a crossroads, as authoritarians seek to chip away at freedoms

In November, the world's most powerful democracy elected as its next president a man who schemed to overturn its last presidential election. A month later, South Koreans swarmed their legislature to block their president's attempt to impose martial law.

The contrast sums up a year that tested democracy on all sides.

Incumbent parties and leaders were battered in elections that covered 60% of the world's population, a sign of widespread discontent in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It also was a sign of democracy working well, as it continued its core function of giving citizens the opportunity to replace the people who govern them.

That made 2024 a year in which the state of democracy is both a glass half full and half empty.