Key indicators of democracy in the US have fallen to their lowest levels in 50 years, with the global rule of law significantly undermined by the Trump administration’s “threats and actions”, data from a leading thinktank shows. Around the world, judicial independence, credible elections and freedom of expression, press freedom and access to justice are all at their lowest levels for at least 30 years, according to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International Idea). The intergovernmental organisation’s annual Global State of Democracy report is considered the most comprehensive of its kind, covering 174 countries and measuring democratic performance since 1975.
International Idea said the decline in the US was particularly marked, but part of a global trend, with 2025 the 11th consecutive year in which more countries declined than improved democratically – the longest continuous downturn since the thinktank’s records began. The International Idea report did highlight some positive developments, including in Australia – where civil society groups were consulted on an anti-racism strategy and children’s online privacy among other issues – and in Syria, where the repressive dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. In Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, youth-led popular protests unseated long-serving leaders, but, the report noted, “it has proven difficult to create far-reaching, meaningful reform in a short period of time”.
Casas-Zamora said it was clear that events in the US influenced other countries. International Idea added the US to its list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time in 2021, pointing to a “visible deterioration” it said began in 2019. The thinktank bases its assessments on 50 years of democratic indicators, assigning countries to one of three categories: democracies, “hybrid” governments and authoritarian regimes.
Globally, it found rule of law was the weakest area of democracy in 2025, with 71 countries – 41% of those assessed – ranked as low-performing. It was also found to be deteriorating quickly, with 29 countries registering downturns. There is now an epidemic of election denialism, of which the patient zero is the current occupant of the White House,” Casas-Zamor said.
It can be reversed,” he added.
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