Nearly a quarter of the world’s nations are currently experiencing democratic backsliding, with Western democracies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy seeing significant deterioration.
According to the 2026 Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, six out of the 10 newly identified autocratising countries are located in Europe and North America.
Professor Staffan I. Lindberg, who led the team that authored the report, expressed deep concern about this trend. “The fact that many populous and economically powerful countries are autocratising is especially worrying,” Lindberg said. “Several of these countries have the economic and political weight to reshape international organisations, norms, and trade, effectively reshaping the global order. I think we are already seeing the effect of that.”
Unprecedented decline
The report highlights that democracy in the US is deteriorating at a scale and speed unseen in modern times. In just one year, the US plummeted from 20th to 51st place out of 179 nations, marking a 24 per cent decline on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index.
The liberal aspects of democracy have taken the hardest hit during President Donald Trump’s second term, which the report characterises as a rapid concentration of presidential power.
“The current US administration has been undercutting institutionalised checks and balances, politicising civil service and oversight bodies, and intimidating the judiciary, alongside attacks on the press, academia, civil liberties, and dissenting voices,” Lindberg explained.
While election-specific indicators remained unchanged for the US in 2025 — as they are only evaluated during national election years — Lindberg warned that the 2026 midterm elections will serve as a critical test. “If election indicators also decline, the US will fall even further,” he noted.
Three global trends of autocratisation
The 2026 Democracy Report identifies three major patterns driving the current wave of democratic backsliding:
- The erosion of traditionally stable democracies.
- Significant reversals and breakdowns in nations that successfully democratised during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
- The deepening of authoritarianism in already autocratic states.
Globally, Freedom of Expression has suffered the most drastic decline, serving as the most common target for autocratising leaders over the last 25 years. Following closely behind are liberal aspects of democracy, such as the rule of law and checks and balances, which are currently deteriorating in 22 countries, including the US.
A few bright spots
Despite the overarching global decline, the report notes some positive developments. Eighteen nations — representing 10 per cent of countries worldwide — are currently democratising.
Major nations like Brazil and Poland are continuing their democratisation processes, with the majority of these 18 countries showing improvements in media freedom. Additionally, Botswana, Guatemala, and Mauritius were identified as three new democratising countries in the 2025 data.
