Stockholm: The United States joins the annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, the International Idea The think-tank said on Monday, pointing to a “visible decline” that it said began in 2019.
Globally, more than one in four people live in a retreating democracy, according to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a proportion that rises to more than two out of three with authoritarian or “hybrid” regimes. Is.
“This year we coded the United States as backsliding for the first time, but our data suggest that the backsliding episode began at least in 2019,” it said in its report titled “Global State of Democracy 2021.”
“The United States is a high-performing democracy, and even its performance has improved in 2020 in indicators of fair governance (corruption and predictable enforcement). However, signals from a decline in civil liberties and control over government It turns out that there are serious problems with the fundamentals of democracy,” Alexander Hudson, a co-author of the report, told AFP.
“There was a historic turning point in 2020-21 when former President Donald trump questioned the validity of the 2020 election results in the United States,” the report said.
In addition, Hudson pointed to a “deterioration in the quality of freedom of association and assembly during the summer of protests in 2020” following the police killing. George Floyd,
International IDEA bases its assessment on 50 years of democratic indicators in approximately 160 countries, assigning them to three categories: democracies (including “backsliding”), “hybrid” governments and authoritarian regimes.
“The visible decline of democracy in the United States, as seen in the increasing tendency to contest credible election results, attempts to suppress participation (in elections), and runaway polarization … is one of the most concerning phenomena,” it said. Happened. International Idea Secretary General Kevin Cass-Zamora,
He warned of a knock-on effect, noting: “The violent fight for the 2020 election has been repeated in different ways in places as diverse as Myanmar, Peru and Israel, without evidence of fraud.”
The number of democracies that have slipped back has more than doubled in the past decade, which now accounts for a quarter of the world’s population. In addition to “established democracies” such as the US, the list includes EU member states Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.
Two countries on the list last year – Ukraine and North Macedonia – were dropped this year after their situation improved.
two others, Gardner And Serbia left the list because they are no longer considered a democracy.
While Myanmar went from a democracy to an authoritarian regime, Afghanistan and Mali entered this category from their previous label of hybrid governments.
For the fifth year in a row, in 2020, countries leaning towards authoritarianism outnumbered those enjoying democratisation.
International Idea expects this trend to continue through 2021.
For 2021, according to the group’s provisional assessment, the world counts 98 democracies – the lowest number in many years – as well as 20 “hybrid” governments including Russia, Morocco and Turkey, and 47 authoritarian regimes including China, Saudi Arabia. Ethiopia and Iran.
“We are talking about 70 percent of the world’s population,” Casas-Zamora told AFP, linking backsliding democracies to hybrid and authoritarian states.
“It tells you that something fundamentally serious is happening to the quality of democracy,” he said.
The report said the trend of democratic erosion has become “more acute and worrying” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Some countries, notably Hungary, India, the Philippines and the United States, have taken (implemented) measures for democratic violations – that is, measures that were inconsistent, illegal, uncertain or unrelated to the nature of the emergency,” the report said.
“The pandemic has certainly intensified and exacerbated some negative trends, especially in places where democracy and the rule of law were ill-equipped before the pandemic,” Casas-Zamora said.
Globally, more than one in four people live in a retreating democracy, according to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a proportion that rises to more than two out of three with authoritarian or “hybrid” regimes. Is.
“This year we coded the United States as backsliding for the first time, but our data suggest that the backsliding episode began at least in 2019,” it said in its report titled “Global State of Democracy 2021.”
“The United States is a high-performing democracy, and even its performance has improved in 2020 in indicators of fair governance (corruption and predictable enforcement). However, signals from a decline in civil liberties and control over government It turns out that there are serious problems with the fundamentals of democracy,” Alexander Hudson, a co-author of the report, told AFP.
“There was a historic turning point in 2020-21 when former President Donald trump questioned the validity of the 2020 election results in the United States,” the report said.
In addition, Hudson pointed to a “deterioration in the quality of freedom of association and assembly during the summer of protests in 2020” following the police killing. George Floyd,
International IDEA bases its assessment on 50 years of democratic indicators in approximately 160 countries, assigning them to three categories: democracies (including “backsliding”), “hybrid” governments and authoritarian regimes.
“The visible decline of democracy in the United States, as seen in the increasing tendency to contest credible election results, attempts to suppress participation (in elections), and runaway polarization … is one of the most concerning phenomena,” it said. Happened. International Idea Secretary General Kevin Cass-Zamora,
He warned of a knock-on effect, noting: “The violent fight for the 2020 election has been repeated in different ways in places as diverse as Myanmar, Peru and Israel, without evidence of fraud.”
The number of democracies that have slipped back has more than doubled in the past decade, which now accounts for a quarter of the world’s population. In addition to “established democracies” such as the US, the list includes EU member states Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.
Two countries on the list last year – Ukraine and North Macedonia – were dropped this year after their situation improved.
two others, Gardner And Serbia left the list because they are no longer considered a democracy.
While Myanmar went from a democracy to an authoritarian regime, Afghanistan and Mali entered this category from their previous label of hybrid governments.
For the fifth year in a row, in 2020, countries leaning towards authoritarianism outnumbered those enjoying democratisation.
International Idea expects this trend to continue through 2021.
For 2021, according to the group’s provisional assessment, the world counts 98 democracies – the lowest number in many years – as well as 20 “hybrid” governments including Russia, Morocco and Turkey, and 47 authoritarian regimes including China, Saudi Arabia. Ethiopia and Iran.
“We are talking about 70 percent of the world’s population,” Casas-Zamora told AFP, linking backsliding democracies to hybrid and authoritarian states.
“It tells you that something fundamentally serious is happening to the quality of democracy,” he said.
The report said the trend of democratic erosion has become “more acute and worrying” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Some countries, notably Hungary, India, the Philippines and the United States, have taken (implemented) measures for democratic violations – that is, measures that were inconsistent, illegal, uncertain or unrelated to the nature of the emergency,” the report said.
“The pandemic has certainly intensified and exacerbated some negative trends, especially in places where democracy and the rule of law were ill-equipped before the pandemic,” Casas-Zamora said.
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