A big year for elections worldwide



AROUND 40 national elections will take place in 2014, representing 42% of the world’s population and more than half of its GDP. It is a year filled with firsts. The first democratic parliamentary election in Fiji. The first directly elected president of Turkey. The first European Union (EU) election since 2009—before the full effects of the financial crisis and the growth of Eurosceptic parties. Yet the dominant theme is stability, explains Alberto Nardelli of Electionista, which tracks elections and politics. Many elections will have wide repercussions, like those in India, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, the EU, South Africa and Latin American states. “There is the possibility that three regions of the world will end the year with a very different political balance,” he says. In local elections tensions will be apparent, especially in countries rife with protests in 2013, such as Greece and Turkey—and for amusement, Toronto’s mayoral race will be decided in October. There will also be a referendum on Scotland’s independence and a planned one for Catalonia. The first election of 2014 has gone badly, with bloodshed and boycotts marring Bangladesh’s on January 5th. The huge year for democracy was the subject of an article in The Economist’s World In 2014.