The US has been added to an annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, the International IDEA thinktank has said, pointing to a “visible deterioration” it said began in 2019.
However, the declines in civil liberties and checks on government indicate that there are serious problems with the fundamentals of democracy.”.
The number of backsliding democracies has doubled in the past decade, accounting 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 that were on the list last year – Ukraine and North Macedonia – were removed this year after their situations improved.
Two others, Mali and Serbia, left the list because they were no longer considered democracies.
Adding backsliding democracies to the hybrid and authoritarian states, “we are talking about 70% of the population in the world”, Casas-Zamora said. »
