 Never have so many people lived in democracies now, but the value of democracy is more contested than ever before. Our global state of democracy report is above all an instrument to have a more nuanced discussion about democracy. Our report finds that the number of democracies keeps growing, but the quality of democracy is deteriorating. The report finds that the global challenges to democracy are many. Nearly half the countries in the world have high levels of corruption. This is a serious impediment to human development. The number of countries experiencing democratic erosion has grown from 17 to 48 in the last decade. Polarization, combined with low levels of support for democracy, provides fertile breeding ground for democratic backsliding. Social media exacerbates existing societal and political polarization. Civic space is shrinking globally. Only a quarter of the world's parliamentarians are women. And it will take another 46 years to reach gender parity in political representation with the slow pace of progress. Over 3 billion people continue to live in non-democratic countries. Many of these experiencing increasing repression. Despite these threats to democracy, the report also finds reasons for optimism. Spurred by popular demand since 2008, 11 countries have transitioned to democracy for the first time in their history. We see that democratic aspirations remain strong. As people rise up to demand the installation of democracy in countries that are non-democracies, or better quality democracies in countries that are already democracies. Democracy has proven resilient. 81% of the world's current democracies have never experienced an undemocratic interruption. High families believe that even imperfect democracy remains the best political system to manage changing social and economic conditions. Despite the ills, democracy remains the best option to advance human dignity. That should move all of us to take action, however small, to reinvigorate representative institutions. To build vibrant civil societies, to protect the free media and to fight corruption, all of which remains essential for healthy democracies. Let's not give up on democracy. Let us recapture and revive democracy's promise.