Half of world’s democracies in state of decline: report
- Stockholm-based IDEA said two-thirds of the world’s population living in ‘backsliding’ democracies or under authoritarian rule
- Poland, Hungary and the United States among countries with the most severe democratic erosion, report says
Half of the world’s democracies are in a state of decline amid worsening civil liberties and rule of law while already authoritarian governments are becoming more oppressive, an intergovernmental watchdog group said on Wednesday.
In its annual report, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said democratic institutions were being undermined by issues ranging from restrictions on freedom of expression to increasing distrust in the legitimacy of elections.
Several factors, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, rampant inflation, a looming global recession, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic provide significant challenges.
“The world faces a multitude of crises, from the cost of living to risks of nuclear confrontation and the acceleration of the climate crisis,” IDEA said in its 2022 study on the state of democracy, relying on data compiled since 1975.
“At the same time, we see global democracy in decline. It is a toxic mix.”
IDEA bases its Global State of Democracy Indices on more than 100 variables including measures such as freedom of expression, and personal integrity and security, which are then grouped and aggregated into broader categories.