Dictators on their way out? Think again, aren't they on their way up?

While consolidated democracies are struggling to stay healthy, many have turned into outright authoritarian regimes-most notably Russia under Vladimir Putin and Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

All around the world, democracy is looking shaky. While consolidated democracies are struggling to stay healthy, many flawed ones have turned into outright authoritarian regimes – most notably Russia under Vladimir Putin and Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But the news isn’t all bad, on several continents over the last decade, longstanding dictators have resigned, lost elections, or been deposed.

As the table below indicates, the number of dictators who’ve fallen in recent years for all sorts of reasons is a cause for optimism.

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But has their demise led to any kind of democratic reform?