Trend · rank 15 of 250

Polarisation & populism

Stronger partisan identities and movements opposed to established institutions and expertise are reducing the scope for agreement across parties, weakening the ability of governments to sustain reforms and secure acceptance of electoral and judicial outcomes.

Governance & IntegrityState capacity & governancepoliticsinstitutions

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
15of 250
Sensitivity
22.5rank 19
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above, 1 Critical
PageRank
80.6rank 9
Eigenvector
92.4
Betweenness
11.5
Links
25trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
52.9

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
79
Over a year
−10%Steady
Over three years
−21%
Peak
1943 Nov 2024
Sources
Bothagreement 0.21
Coverage
21languages · 53 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (21 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English49%86−18%
German10%70−13%
Japanese8%67−66%
Spanish6%92−7%
Chinese4%69−32%
Russian4%165+69%
French4%91−7%
Italian3%118+21%
Persian2%89+16%
Portuguese2%96−4%
Dutch2%44−59%
Korean1%101−25%
Swedish1%145+102%
Turkish1%153+88%
Vietnamese1%70−54%
Hebrew1%106+17%
Indonesian1%125+33%
Arabic1%100−5%
Ukrainian0%131+35%
Malay0%119+6%
Bengali0%73−41%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

United States

Singapore

China

United Kingdom

Canada

Australia

Ireland

Netherlands

New Zealand

Sweden

Philippines

South Korea

100

66

58

54

49

44

44

44

40

40

39

38

The 12 highest of 53 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English76−1%−17%−26%
EuropeGoogle in 8 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish78+1%−13%−34%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 8 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay82−9%−37%−10%
South AsiaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in Bengali81−17%−21%−15%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew77−31%+14%−15%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese83−18%−19%−43%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian158+16%+62%+106%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle51−7%−46%−82%
AustraliaGoogle94−3%−16%+3%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese89+31%−25%−45%
CanadaGoogle67−3%−16%−42%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French79−10%−15%−22%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German63+10%−20%−40%
IndiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Bengali85−15%−19%−12%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian118−5%+60%−1%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian95−8%+7%−16%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese58+17%−76%−2%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean84−18%−31%+34%
MexicoGoogle59−24%+0%−57%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian166+16%+69%+137%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish98−21%+50%+11%
United KingdomGoogle60−25%−34%−50%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English76+1%−16%−27%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
6 · CriticalA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
3 · ModerateA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
2 · LowCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
2 · LowHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
2 · LowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
2 · LowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
1 · Very lowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
1 · Very lowA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
1 · Very lowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highRule of law & judicial independenceState capacity & governance3
5 · Very highExecutive overreach & emergency powersState capacity & governance4
5 · Very highCorruption & state captureState capacity & governance5
5 · Very highCitizen participation & deliberative democracyState capacity & governance60
4 · HighState capacity & deliveryState capacity & governance1
4 · HighDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
4 · HighRegulatory capture & lobbying powerState capacity & governance8
4 · HighErosion of rights & civic freedomsState capacity & governance14
4 · HighFiscal rules & budget credibilityState capacity & governance17
4 · HighCivil unrest & protest mobilisationState capacity & governance25
3 · ModerateCivil service capability & payState capacity & governance2
3 · ModeratePublic procurement capabilityState capacity & governance6
3 · ModerateLocal & city government capacityState capacity & governance11
3 · ModerateSovereign debt & interest burdenMoney & debt12
3 · ModerateSocial protection coverage gapsState capacity & governance13
3 · ModerateDiplomatic capacity under strainDiplomacy & influence16
3 · ModerateIllicit finance & beneficial ownershipState capacity & governance20
3 · ModerateOfficial statistics & data capacityState capacity & governance21
3 · ModerateDecline of independent journalismInformation & trust29
3 · ModerateElection integrity & interferenceInformation & trust57
3 · ModerateCentral bank independence under pressureState capacity & governance64
3 · ModerateConspiracy movements & science denialInformation & trust68
3 · ModerateWeakening multilateral institutionsDiplomacy & influence77
3 · ModerateAsylum & migration system strainState capacity & governance115
3 · ModerateReligious & identity nationalismInformation & trust122