In ‘decline’
and included Poland, Hungary and also the United States, with its problems of political polarisation, institutional dysfunction and threats to civil liberties.
In Europe, almost half of all democracies have suffered erosion in the last five years, it said. However, 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,” IDEA said.
It said democracy globally was 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.
“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,” IDEA said.
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 toward authoritarianism was more than double the number moving toward democracy measured over the past six years.
On a positive note, Africa remained resilient in the face of instability. Countries including The Gambia, Niger and Zambia all saw improvements in democratic quality.
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