Global Rise In Authoritarianism

 We live in what is commonly called a representative democracy.  There are other forms of democracy, such as direct democracy and consitutional democracy.  Sadly, the Democracy Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit,  has found that more countries are declining in their level of democracy.  They rate countries on 5 categories such as functioning of government and civil liberties.  They can score between 0 and 10.  Overall scores of 8.01 and 10 are considered full democracies.  There are 10 countries in the world with scores higher than 9.  They are (In order with Norway being the fullest democracy):  Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Switzerland.  The United States ranked 36th, with a democracy rating of 7.96.

On the other end of the spectrum, many countries that were once democracies or at least flawed democracies, are becoming autocracies.  Ones that come to mind that have changed their form of government in the past 10 years are Venezuela, Hungary and Poland.  Below are some bullet points regarding the rise in authoritarianism.  Pretty scary stuff.

• There are fewer democracies in Europe and Eurasia than at any point in the 26-year history of Nations in Transit. Of the 29 countries assessed, 10 were rated as democracies, 10 as hybrid regimes, and nine as authoritarian regimes. No countries changed categories this year.
• The average democracy score for the region has declined every year since 2005—17 years in a row. Eighteen countries’ democracy scores declined this year, only six countries’ scores improved, and five countries experienced no net change. The spread of authoritarianism continues to outpace democratic progress by a wide margin.

• The largest declines occurred in Poland (-0.36), which suffered the second-largest single-year drop ever recorded, and in Hungary (-0.25). Both countries’ democracy scores are the lowest they have ever been during the 17-year period of overall decline.
• The most common regime type in Eurasia remains “consolidated authoritarian.” Armenia is the only semiconsolidated authoritarian regime in Eurasia, while Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are the only hybrid/transitional regimes in this subregion. There are no democracies in Eurasia.
• The most common regime type in the Balkans continues to be “hybrid/transitional.” The only exception is Croatia, which is considered a semiconsolidated democracy.
• Despite having suffered the steepest decline over the past decade, Central Europe remains the best-performing subregion; its most common regime type is “consolidated democracy.” Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania are the only semiconsolidated democracies in Central and Eastern Europe; Hungary is the only hybrid/transitional regime.