Elections in countries that are home to almost half of the world’s population made this the biggest election year on record and will shape how the world is governed in 2025.
From Taiwan’s general election in January to the US presidential race in November, more than 2 billion people – an all-time record – went to the polls in 2024.
They voted amid growing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, including the Ukraine war, strife in the Middle East and rising trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies.
Here are some of the key issues that may be at the forefront for five major democracies following elections:
United States
Republican Donald Trump, 78, won the US presidential election in early November, capping a remarkable comeback four years after he was voted out of the White House.
He is planning a blizzard of more than 25 executive orders and directives on his first day in office on Jan. 20 as he seeks to dramatically reshape government policy on issues from immigration to energy.
The orders are expected to mostly focus on rolling back what Trump views as Biden’s overly permissive border policies and preventing more migration along the US southern border with Mexico.
Trump is expected to give immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, send more troops to the US-Mexico border and restart construction of a border wall.
India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a record-tying third term in June but a smaller-than-expected mandate means he will have to lean more on his allies for support, while still urgently addressing issues like unemployment, inflation and economic disparities in the world’s most populous nation.
India has emerged as the world’s fastest-growing major economy but faces challenges in creating new jobs and ensuring that economic growth is inclusive.
Tens of millions of young Indians chase government jobs every year despite a booming economy where the private sector is expanding - a trend that underscores cultural and economic anxieties facing many Indians.
Modi first came to power in 2014 on the promise of creating 20 million jobs a year, but has fallen far short of that, economists say.
South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as South Africa’s president in June with the support of former rival parties that agreed to join his African National Congress (ANC) in a new government.
South Africans angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages slashed support for the ANC to 40 per cent, ending three decades of dominance by the party that freed the country from apartheid.
Ramaphosa has pledged to revive South Africa’s flagging economy and extend prosperity to the many left out of it over the next five years by resuscitating factories and farms, building roads and seizing opportunities in green energy.
South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, trapping millions of people in poverty and making them reliant on social grants.
The joblessness rate stood at 32.4 per cent in 2023, nearly 10 points higher than in 1994, when the ANC came to power. Young people account for more than half of the country’s unemployed, with a rate of over 40 per cent.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron launched a risky political gamble by calling a snap election in June, which led not only to a hugely fragmented parliament but also the appointment of a series of prime ministers tasked with steering a disputed 2025 budget to rein in its public finances.
The summer ballot also saw far-right parties make major gains, with vulnerable groups such as migrants and LGBTQ+ people fearing for their rights, including same-sex adoption, surrogacy and in-vitro fertilisation for lesbian couples.
Observers say further political and economic turmoil could leave a hole at the heart of Europe, especially with Germany preparing for an election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in parliament. Disagreements over how to save Europe’s largest economy were the main factor behind the collapse of Scholz’s government.
Mexico
Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president in October, promising to expand women’s rights, including closing the pay gap and ending gender-based violence, and tackle environmental challenges, like fixing the ongoing water crisis and working towards net zero emissions.
But analysts say she has a complicated path ahead. She must balance promises to increase popular welfare policies while inheriting the largest budget deficit since the 1980s and lagging economic growth.
She will also have to pursue measures to stop migrants from reaching the northern border with the United States at a time when Mexican migration agencies are facing a budget crunch that leaves them poorly placed to handle the mass deportations promised by Trump.
In recent years, Mexico has received upwards of 200,000 Mexicans a year who have been deported from US, according to Mexican government data, but Trump’s plans could mean a significant jump in that number.
Sheinbaum has said she has a plan for receiving Mexican nationals who are deported, but has given little detail on what it involves or how it will be funded.
This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit https://www.context.news/.
