Since the start of the COVID–19 pandemic, many have talked of an acceleration of democracy’s retreat around the globe.  Against this backdrop,  research team members from JCIE’s project on Expanding Support for Democratic Governance discussed their assessments of the current state of democracy, how democracy has been challenged by this infectious disease, how Japan should engage with democracy around the world, and why democracy is important anyway. The following is a record of discussions held on November 19, 2020, which was originally published in Japanese. The original Japanese can be found on the Democracy for the Future Website.