They become increasingly willing to abandon democratic ideals in favor of any alternative that appears to promise faster economic security and social stability—even if that alternative is openly authoritarian. “In many countries today, democracy has morphed into a regime of control—raising a polished facade so that citizens submit willingly, simply because they believe power was earned legitimately at the ballot box.” The world is drifting into an era where “democracy” functions more like a political brand than a living system of governance rooted in popular sovereignty. Elections are held, parliaments still convene, and institutions exist on paper. Yet the substance of democracy is steadily hollowed out. Increasingly, states are classified as low-quality democracies or outright electoral autocracies , where democratic procedures survive mainly as a smokescreen for entrenched authoritarian power. Political scientists remind us that the quality of democracy cannot be gauged by e...