Global Democracy Declines

Democracy is under strain around the world. According to the latest Democracy Index, the global average score has dropped to its lowest point since the rankings began in 2006.

—The Economist

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The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its latest Democracy Index¹, a yearly assessment that scores countries on five metrics: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Countries are scored on a scale from 0 (full authoritarian) to 10 (full democracy). In 2024, the global average score fell from 5.29 to 5.23—the lowest recorded since the index began in 2006.

Source: The Economist

Bangladesh, Romania, Tunisia, and South Korea were among the largest contributors to this decline. Bangladesh fell sharply due to a rigged election, a mass uprising, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country. Romania sank after its presidential election was annulled due to Russian interference. Tunisia dropped after its president jailed opposition leaders. And South Korea declined due to the president’s attempt to impose martial law. (We have covered most of these events on our podcast.)

Source: The Economist

Despite the overall global backsliding, Western Europe remains the world’s most democratic region. Of the 25 countries classified as “full democracies,” 15 are in Western Europe—including Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Switzerland, which top the global rankings. The continent boasts the highest regional score at 8.38, a level it has maintained for over a decade.

Source: The Economist

Yet high scores don’t guarantee public confidence. In a recent Pew survey, citizens in many top-scoring democracies expressed deep dissatisfaction with how their political systems function. For example, Britain is the 17th most democratic country, but 60% of its citizens are not satisfied with the way democracy is working.

If you read our NewsWire, it should be no surprise that government dissatisfaction is rising in the West. See: “Global Millennials: Down on Democracy and Drawn to Populism,” “Americans Lose Faith in Democracy,” and “Generation Hopeless: The Despair of Young Americans.”

Source: The Economist

The United States, meanwhile, remains stuck in democratic limbo. It once again ranked as a “flawed democracy,” with a score of 7.85—unchanged from 2023. The U.S. performs well on electoral processes but poorly on political culture and government functioning. The EIU attributes this to extreme polarization, erosion of democratic norms, and declining trust in institutions.

With Trump testing the boundaries of the rule of law and trust in institutions scraping historic lows, America’s democratic score could decline in 2025. (See “Episode 59: The Fourth Turning—Democracy on the Edge.”)

1. This is one of several democratic indices. Two other widely cited measures of liberal democracy worldwide are Freedom House and V-Dem. Both came to similar conclusions for 2024.