Publications

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Report 2022 provides an overview of the global and regional trends related to democracy and human rights, along with examples of efforts to reinvigorate social contracts around the world.

A finales de 2022 el mundo se encuentra atrapado bajo el peso de una multitude de viejos y nuevos problemas. Las causas de la inestabilidad política y económica son innumerables, entre ellas el alza de los precios de los alimentos y la energía, el incremento de la inflación y una inminente recesión. Estos fenómenos se producen en un contexto inestable caracterizado por el persistente cambio climático, desigualdades a largo plazo sin resolver, la pandemia de la COVID-19, el descenso del nivel de vida y la guerra de agresión rusa en Ucrania.

Democracy is at risk. Its survival is endangered by a perfect storm of threats, both from within and from a rising tide of authoritarianism. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these threats through the imposition of states of emergency, the spread of disinformation, and crackdowns on independent media and freedom of expression. The Global State of Democracy 2021 shows that more countries than ever are suffering from ‘democratic erosion’ (decline in democratic quality), including in established democracies.

Pese a la pandemia, el número de democracias en las Américas se mantiene igual que hace dos años. Además, la mayoría de las democracias de la región demostraron una gran resiliencia frente al efecto disruptivo de la pandemia, y los Parlamentos, los Poderes Judiciales y los medios de comunicación de la mayoría de las democracias lograron adaptarse y seguir ejerciendo sus funciones de control, aun en medio de numerosas restricciones que dificultaron su labor. 

The number of democracies in the Americas remains the same as two years ago despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, most of the democracies in the region demonstrated great resilience in the face of the pandemic. Parliaments, the judiciary and the media of most democracies in the region managed to adapt and continue to exercise their control functions, even in the midst of numerous restrictions that hampered their work. 

For more than a decade, a majority of Europe’s established democracies have seen the quality of their democracies stagnate—or even decline—rather than improve. Some show the clear erosion of democratic processes and fundamental rights; several have deteriorated to the point where they can hardly be qualified as democracies any longer. The arrival of the Covid-19 global health crisis has added to the strain. With sufficient democratic safeguards still in place, it is likely that the continent’s consolidated democracies will emerge largely intact from the pandemic.

Recent declines in democracy have undermined some of the remarkable progress made in Africa over the past three decades, although bright spots remain. The Covid-19 pandemic, though seemingly less damaging to public health than elsewhere in the world, has added pressure on governance, rights, and social inequality. The report also covers the Middle East and North Africa which is one of the least democratic regions in the world. 

The Covid-19 pandemic initially broke out in the Asia and the Pacific region in late 2019, with the first cases in Wuhan, China. The pandemic has served as a magnifier of pre-existing democratic strengths and weaknesses within governing systems around Asia and the Pacific. In the majority of cases, the region’s hybrid and authoritarian regimes tightened their grip on society in response to the pandemic. Quality of democracy continued to decline in number of region’s democracies.

Democracy is under threat and its promise needs revival. The value, viability and future of democracy are more contested now than ever before in modern history. While the past four decades have seen a remarkable expansion of democracy throughout all regions of the world, recent years have been marked by declines in the fabric of both older and younger democracies. The idea of democracy continues to mobilize people around the world, but the practice of existing democracies has disappointed and disillusioned many citizens and democracy advocates.

Is democracy really in trouble, or do recent events simply signal a temporary downward fluctuation? Are sceptics overreacting to sensational daily headlines, and losing sight of democracy’s numerous advances over the last few decades? Under what conditions is democracy resilient when challenged? To answer these questions, the first edition of International IDEA’s biennial publication, The Global State of Democracy, explores the challenges and risks to democracy as well as the enabling conditions for its resilience—its ability to adapt and recover from complex challenges and crises.