Study paints a grim picture of the state of democracy

Stockholm — Half of the world’s democracies are in decline as civil liberties and rule of law are eroded while already authoritarian governments are becoming more oppressive, an intergovernmental watchdog group said on Wednesday.

The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) says in its annual report that democratic institutions are being undermined by issues 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 report adds.

“The world faces a multitude of crises, from the cost of living to risks of nuclear confrontation and the acceleration of the climate crisis,” the IDEA says 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.”

The 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 grouped and aggregated into broader categories.

The number of “backsliding” countries — those with the most severe democratic erosion — has never been so high, according to the report that included Poland, Hungary and also the US, with its problems of political polarisation, institutional dysfunction and threats to civil liberties.

In Europe, almost half of democracies have suffered erosion in the past five years, it says. Still, democratic values and institutions are increasingly seen as a fundamental bulwark against Russian aggression, especially in Ukraine, but also in most countries in the region.

“The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has shaken Europe, forcing the region to rethink security considerations and deal with impending food and energy crises,” the IDEA said.

Multiple threats

Democracy globally is under threat from challenges to the legitimacy of credible election results, restrictions on online freedoms and rights, intractable corruption, and the rise of extreme-right parties, it added.

“Never has there been such an urgency for democracies to respond, to show their citizens that they can forge new, innovative social contracts that bind people together rather than divide them.”

The report found that authoritarian governments were engaging in ever more repression of dissent, and that more than two-thirds of the world’s population now lived in “backsliding” democracies or under authoritarian rule.

Globally, the number of countries moving towards authoritarianism was more than double the number moving towards democracy measured over the past six years.

On a positive note, Africa remained resilient in the face of instability. Countries including Gambia, Niger and Zambia all saw improvements in democratic quality.

Reuters