FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Three out of four people now live under some form of authoritarian rule, and this trend is growing. So how did we lose our love of freedoms?
Authoritarian regimes have become the norm, while democracy is becoming the exception. Civil liberties are being curtailed and freedom of expression is being suppressed. This trend is deepening, affecting every region of the world, and has been driven in part, but not entirely, by the United States.
In the early 1990s, democracy seemed to be spreading unstoppably. The fall of the Berlin Wall was followed by a wave of political liberalization in Europe, Africa, and Asia, where many one-party states were replaced by multi-party systems.
American political scientist Francis Fukuyama called this moment “the end of history.” He argued that the ascendancy of the United States and the collapse of the Soviet Union after the Cold War proved that Western liberal democracy represented “the ultimate form of human government.” In other words, democracy had won and would remain forever.
However, this is not the case. According to Freedom House, democratic freedoms have declined every year since 2000. Of the countries analyzed, only 35 have seen improvements, while 54 have seen declines in political rights and civil liberties. Over the past two decades, the greatest blows have been taken by media freedom, due process of law, and freedom of expression.
Another report, Unravelling the Democratic Era, by the Swedish organization V-Dem, paints an even bleaker picture. According to it, the share of the world’s population living in functioning democracies – with free elections, individual rights, and checks on executive power – has fallen from 17% in 2005 to just 7% in 2025. Meanwhile, 74% of the world’s population lives in autocracy, compared to 50% two decades ago.
Why is this happening?
Coups and armed conflicts have played a significant role, particularly in West Africa, where military juntas have overthrown elected governments in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. They have restricted civil society, dissolved political parties, and changed laws to consolidate their power, while opponents have faced repression.
The democratic slide
Elected leaders have also weakened democratic institutions. This phenomenon is illustrated by Viktor Orbán in Hungary, who promoted the model of “illiberal democracy.” Similar trends have been observed in Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro, where mechanisms for transparency and the fight against corruption have been weakened, and in India, where the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi has increased pressure on civil society and the media.
Loss of shine
Today, the US is also at the forefront of this trend. According to the V-Dem index, its score has fallen by 24% during Donald Trump's second term. The organization describes the speed and scale of this decline as "unprecedented in modern history," estimating that civil rights have returned to the level of the late 1960s. The second largest decline in recent history was during Trump's first term.
According to V-Dem, during his two terms, Trump has surpassed "the most well-known autocrats of the last 25 years" in the speed with which he has undermined American democracy. This includes weakening checks on presidential power, undermining the rule of law, and attempting to silence critical media outlets.
This matters beyond American borders for two reasons. First, because the United States has long served as a model for democracy. Second, because for decades it has promoted democracy in other countries through USAID and media outlets like Voice of America. Most of these programs have now been shut down.
Formula
According to the Lowy Institute, democracy does not disappear overnight, but gradually erodes. First, conditions are created, such as economic inequality, social change, distrust of institutions, and political polarization.
Then there are authoritarian leaders who exploit discontent to seize power. An example is Donald Trump, who won two elections by capitalizing on discontent over immigration and the cost of living.
Once they take power, they weaken democratic institutions, concentrate powers in the executive, limit the opposition, and weaken the judiciary.
Result
This process rarely leads to a full-blown dictatorship like North Korea. According to the Lowy Institute, more often it brings about a lower-quality democracy without the system completely collapsing.
Also worrying is the fact that dissatisfaction with democracy is growing. A 2020 report concluded that this has become the dominant view worldwide, describing the period that began in 2005 as a "global democratic recession." The only exceptions were Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Options
However, the evidence does not clearly show that citizens prefer autocracy. Political scientist Ben Seyd, of the University of Kent, argues that a lack of political trust may lead voters to elect authoritarian leaders, but that does not mean they want to give up democracy.
This is evidenced by the protests of Generation Z in various countries around the world. Young people in Serbia, Nepal and Kenya, countries that Freedom House classifies as "partly free", have protested against corruption, police violence and misgovernment. In other words, they are demanding better governance, not authoritarian rule. /Adapted from “The Observer”
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