Amid increasing polarisation, disinformation and economic anxieties, the health of representative democracies will be tested in elections across all continents in 2026.
There are four pivotal elections that will either reinforce democratic norms or risk further eroding confidence in free and fair processes.
Scheduled for November 3, the US midterm elections will see all 435 seats in the House of Representatives up for grabs, as well as a third of the 100 Senate seats.
Historically, the party controlling the White House tends to lose ground in the midterms. This makes the 2026 elections a high-stakes moment for President Donald Trump. Current polling indicates the Republicans could lose control of the House and see their Senate majority winnowed down to two or three seats.
Trump has taken advantage of a pliant Congress to pass his legislation (such as the “big, beautiful bill”), get his judicial appointments approved and escape the usual oversight of his executive branch.
So, if Trump loses one or both chambers, it will likely lead to legislative gridlock. And, if the first Trump administration serves as an example, a Democrat-controlled House could mean trouble for the president.
More crucially, the 2026 midterms will be a test of the US democratic spirit two years into Trump’s second term. With persistent concerns over electoral integrity and democratic backsliding, the midterms will determine whether the Democrats in Congress have the ability to finally hold Trump to account.
Brazilians will go to the polls on October 4 to elect a new president, the National Congress, and state governors and legislators. The 79-year-old incumbent president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, is seeking an unprecedented fourth term.
Lula has had a topsy-turvy political career thus far. In 2017, he was convicted of corruption and money laundering and began serving a 12-year sentence. This disqualified him from running in the 2018 general election.
Lula was freed in 2019 and his conviction was nullified two years later, paving the way for him to return to office in a narrow win over then-incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula’s third term in office started with a failed coup in early 2023 orchestrated by Bolsonaro and his allies. Bolsonaro has now been sentenced to 27 years in jail for his role in the attempted coup.
Meanwhile, Lula has had mixed reviews from voters, with recent polling showing just a third of Brazilians think he has done an excellent job and a third believe he’s been poor. The rest are in the middle.
With Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flavio, confirming his intention to run, the election will be a test of whether Bolsonarismo – Jair’s right-wing political movement – can survive under a new leader.
The election will also determine if Brazil can move beyond its recent history of polarisation and instability and safeguard its democracy.
