NEW DELHI, March 11 -- Weakening Confidence in Democracy

Humanity is on the move. Migrants look for better places, and thinkers search for better ideas. Political philosophers hunt for realistic ways of living together within political units. There doesn't seem to be a convincing formula that can encapsulate all variables. As confidence in democracy is weakening in democratic countries like the US and the UK, self-assertion is growing stronger in authoritarian nations like China and Russia. Unthinking masses who look to strong decision-makers yield to power-hungry politicians skilled in the clever use of words and manipulation of religious, ethnic, and/or nationalistic emotions.

Stanford University's findings show that people are not ea...