Democracy Tracker
The Democracy Tracker provides event-centric, monthly information on democracy and human rights developments in 173 countries. Event reports describe a change to the status-quo of the state of democracy at the country level. They include a description of the event, indications of the specific aspects of democracy that have been impacted, the magnitude of the impact, links to original sources and keywords to enable further research. Click on the country hexagons below to read the most recent developments, or hover over to the country profiles menu at the top to access the full data and analysis of a specific country.
Positive and Negative Events in January 2025
Lebanon
Bangladesh
Central African Republic
Indonesia
Lithuania
New Zealand
Palestine
Romania
Serbia
Slovenia
Thailand
Uganda
Vanuatu
Azerbaijan
Benin
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Colombia
Georgia
Israel
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Mexico
Montenegro
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Russian Federation
South Africa
South Sudan
Switzerland
Democratic Republic of the Congo
United States of America
*Assessments are relative to each country and do not represent comparisons or rankings between countries.
May 2022
Malaysia
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Critical Events To Watch in January 2025
Asia and the Pacific • New Zealand
New Zealand’s parliament unanimously approved a law to grant legal personhood to the mountain Taranaki Maunga as part of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. In practice, this means the mountain and surrounding national park, Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki, will have the same rights and responsibilities of a legal person, and the lands themselves will be jointly managed by Crown representatives and the eight Maori iwi who historically inhabited the area. The decision comes after nine years of petitioning and negotiations between Taranaki iwi and the New Zealand government. The mountain is the third natural feature to be granted legal personhood in the country, and the status is intended to act as restitution for disposed Maori communities, preserve traditional use of the land, and conserve the native ecosystem.
Sources: Radio New Zealand, Jurist
Western Asia • Palestine
On 19 January, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect, potentially ending 15 months of war in Gaza. The first phase of the agreement, planned to last 42 days, is to involve the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Israel has also started to withdraw its military forces from populated areas and the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and facilitating the entry and delivery of humanitarian aid. If successful, a second phase would involve an additional exchange of hostages and prisoners and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops. The third phase would focus on Gaza's reconstruction. The agreement, mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, showed initial progress by the end of January, but concerns about its stability remain. Details of the second and third phases of the ceasefire are yet to be negotiated.
Americas • United States of America
Following his inauguration on 20 January, President Donald Trump embarked on a far-reaching effort to change the way that the United States government functions, principally through Executive Orders (EOs). On the day of the inauguration, President Trump signed 26 EOs; he had signed 46 by the end of January. While the use of EOs is not unique to this administration, the powers claimed by the President in many of these orders are nearly unprecedented in US-American history. The EOs that have ordered the government to halt disbursements of funds appropriated by Congress have relied on claims of executive power to intervene in the budgetary process that far exceed what has been permitted under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974. EOs and memoranda halting the disbursement of congressionally appropriated funds for services provided by states (such as Medicaid) and official development aid distributed by agencies such as USAID were suspended through emergency orders granted by federal courts, but not before they generated destructive levels of uncertainty for the agencies affected. The lack of response from Congress to this erosion of its constitutionally mandated powers has signalled the majority’s willingness to cede these powers to the executive branch.
The President has also delegated a great deal of policy-making power to a newly established agency called the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE). This agency is functionally led by businessman Elon Musk, although his only formal role in the US government is as an advisor to the President. The vast powers to intervene in government departments that President Trump has delegated to this agency have generated significant problems for democratic accountability and have introduced damaging levels of arbitrariness in the functioning of the government.
Many of the EOs have been challenged in legal proceedings, contributing to further uncertainty about the content of the law and US government policy until these cases are resolved.
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Democracy Notes & Commentary
Explainer: The Impact of Argentina’s Chainsaw on Memory, Truth, and Justice Policies
March 04, 2025
What do I need to know, and when do I need to know it? Democracy, the news, and hedgehogs
February 11, 2025
Unpacking President Yoon’s martial law attempt: A Q&A with Dr Jeong-In Yun on South Korea’s democracy
February 06, 2025
Monthly Event Reports
See all the information related to countries that have updates this month.
Africa
KEN
SSD
UGA
CAF
COD
ZAF
BEN
MDG
ZWE
DZA
AGO
BWA
BFA
BDI
CMR
TCD
COM
CIV
CPV
DJI
EGY
GNQ
ERI
ETH
GAB
GMB
SWZ
GHA
GIN
GNB
LSO
LBR
LBY
MWI
MLI
MRT
MUS
MAR
MOZ
NAM
NER
NGA
COG
RWA
SEN
SLE
SOM
SDN
TZA
TGO
TUN
ZMB
Americas
COL
MEX
USA
NIC
CAN
HTI
ARG
BRB
BOL
BRA
CHL
CRI
CUB
DOM
ECU
SLV
GTM
GUY
HND
JAM
PAN
PRY
PER
SUR
TTO
URY
VEN
Asia and the Pacific
PAK
BGD
THA
KAZ
KGZ
NZL
VUT
MMR
IDN
KHM
TWN
LKA
MYS
TLS
AFG
JPN
AUS
BTN
CHN
PRK
FJI
IND
LAO
MDV
MNG
NPL
PNG
PHL
KOR
SGP
SLB
TJK
TKM
UZB
VNM
Europe
BGR
SRB
LTU
SVN
BLR
ROU
AZE
RUS
MNE
GEO
CHE
UKR
ESP
HUN
GBR
KSV
TUR
ARM
SVK
ALB
AUT
BEL
BIH
HRV
CYP
CZE
DNK
EST
FIN
FRA
DEU
GRC
ISL
IRL
ITA
LVA
LUX
MLT
MDA
NLD
MKD
NOR
POL
PRT
SWE
Western Asia
LBN
PSE
ISR
IRQ
BHR
IRN
JOR
KWT
OMN
QAT
SAU
SYR
ARE
YEM
May 2022
Malaysia
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