Democracy is under threat and “needs champions,” President Biden said Thursday as he pushed leaders of 110 nations to resist corruption and govern for “the people” amid fears of democratic backsliding and a rising tide of autocracy.
Kicking off a two-day Virtual Summit for Democracy, Mr. Biden said he doesn’t expect all democracies to look the same but they must stand up for basic principles such as freedom of speech, press and religion and the rule of law.
“Democracy needs champions,” Mr. Biden said. “We stand at an inflection point in our history. The choices we make, in my view, in this moment are going to fundamentally determine the direction our world is going to take in the coming decades.”
Mr. Biden described democracy as something that needs constant care.
“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident, we have to renew it with each generation,” he said. “The data we’re seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction.”
He pointed to research from Freedom House, which said global freedom has been in retreat for 15 years, and other research that found more than half of democracies have experienced a decline in at least one aspect of its democratic principles, including the U.S.
Mr. Biden’s summit brought together 110 leaders from a spectrum of democracies, including some considered to have authoritarian characteristics — Angola, Congo, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Zambia — and nations that have been accused of backsliding on democracy, including Brazil, India, Philippines and Poland.
The list of countries not invited was just as notable. They included countries led by noted strongmen — China, Russia and Turkey — and Hungary, the only member of the European Union that didn’t get an invitation.
Hungarian President Viktor Orban has been accused of consolidating his power and reining in the media and other independent institutions.
Mr. Biden did not call out countries by name but the summit is unfolding against the backdrop of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine, prompting fears that President Vladimir Putin will invade as he thumbs his nose at the West.
The president spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after addressing the summit.
The White House this week also announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in Beijing over the communist government’s abuses against the religious minorities in the western province of Xinjiang. Several other nations followed the U.S. lead and joined the diplomatic boycott.
Vice President Kamala Harris noted that the virtual summit comes less than a year after supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol while lawmakers were trying to certify electoral votes in Mr. Biden’s victory.
“Here in the United States, we know that our democracy is not immune from threats. Jan. 6 looms large in our collective consciousness, and the anti-voter laws that many states have passed are part of an intentional effort to exclude Americans from participating in our democracy,” she said during her speaking slot Thursday.
Ms. Harris highlighted a pair of election-overhaul bills that Democrats say will make it easier for people to vote, though the measures face opposition from Republicans who decry it as a federal takeover.
“Executive action alone is not enough. Our Congress must act,” Ms. Harris said.
Ms. Harris, who is the first female U.S. vice president, also said women’s rights are a barometer for democracy.
“The status of women is the status of democracy,” Ms. Harris said. “The exclusion of women in decision-making is the marker of a flawed democracy.”
The summit will stretch into Friday and include governors, union leaders and activists.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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