To some, the US elections have been a great exercise in democracy. Millions turning out in record numbers, passionate views genuinely held, an accurate reflection of opinion in the oldest democracy in the world, a close result maybe but not one that is unprecedented. 1/8

To others, these elections have put the very reputation of democracy at risk. Donald Trump talking of fraud & stolen votes, Democrats questioning the gap between the Electoral College & the popular vote. Shops boarded up for fear of post-electoral violence. 2/8

The former UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt shares some of these fears. This is what he told the BBC’s Today programme 3/8:

The US has come in for some stick. One Russian headline spoke of “the United States of Anxiety”. In China, one pro-state newspaper said the US was “in degradation”. A Nigerian senator said: "Africa used to learn American democracy, America is now learning African democracy." 4/8

This matters because democracy is challenged across the globe. In Georgia, opposition parties claim last weekend’s elections were rigged. In Tanzania, last week’s elections are disputed. The legitimacy of the Belarus election is still being fought out on the streets of Minsk. 5/8

Democracy is challenged from within by politicians who no longer accept the rules of the game & voters who no longer think it delivers for them. It is challenged from without by strongman autocracies and Chinese ideology that allow economic but not political freedom. 6/8

In 1947, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”. 7/8

Right now one of the world's largest democracies is testing that aphorism to its limit. If the legitimacy of the US electoral system comes into question, just imagine what it could mean for the future of representative government elsewhere in the world. 8/8