Downfall: ‘monopoly’ growing in democratic countries
Democracy is on the decline in about 50 percent of the countries in the world that have democratic governments.
This erosion has intensified after the Ukraine war. This has been said in the latest report of International Think Tank, I-IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). According to the organization’s general secretary, Kevin Casas-Zamora, ‘we are now seeing unprecedented difficulties for democracy. Political and economic crises have added to these difficulties. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the Ukraine war gave rise to these difficulties.
I-Idea has released the list of countries where the democratic system is in the most damage. These countries have been called regressive countries. Last year their number was six and for the first time America was included in them. This time the number has increased to seven and El Salvador has also been added to the list. Other countries are Brazil, Hungary, India, Mauritius and Poland.
Casas-Zamora said the situation in the US is particularly worrying. “I am particularly concerned about what we are seeing in America,” he said. The report says that political polarization, institutional dysfunction and threats to civil liberties are on the rise in these countries. Regarding the US, Casas-Zamora said, ‘So far it is clear that the fever that has risen since the election of the new government has not subsided.
The level of polarization is very high and the credibility of the elections is being questioned without any evidence. America’s regressive steps in sexual and reproductive rights are unprecedented. Most countries, in fact almost all countries, are moving forward in terms of sexual and reproductive rights. According to i-idea, out of 173 countries studied, 104 have democracy and 52 are eroding. 27 countries are moving towards authoritarian system, while 13 towards democracy.
The report says that almost half of the countries that do not have democracies have become more repressive. In the report, Afghanistan, Belarus, Cambodia, Comoros and Nicaragua have been named and said that there has been a big decline in the situation here. According to the report, 54 percent of the people in Asia live in a democracy and dictatorial systems are getting stronger. Africa has been praised, saying that despite difficult conditions and threats of instability there is competition.
A decade after the Arab Spring, the Middle East remains the ‘world’s most totalitarian region’ with only three countries having democracies – Iraq, Israel and Lebanon. Nearly half of the total countries in Europe i.e. 17 are such, where democratic values have declined in the last five years.
Concern has been raised about the fact that even in countries where the level of democratic values was better, disturbing things are now visible. According to the report, in an era of instability and anxiety, it is becoming increasingly difficult for democracies to strike a balance. Populists are getting stronger and democratic development has either stalled or is going backwards. In the last five years, growth has come to a complete halt on all parameters and the situation has become similar to what it was in the 1990s.
what are the standards
I-IDEA is an inter-governmental organization. It has 34 member countries which help in the study of democratic systems. For the last four years, this organization is issuing ‘Global State of Democracy Report’. To prepare this report, the trends and changes since 1975 are studied. For this there are 116 standards on which every country is tested. These standards include things like democratic representation, fundamental rights, people’s participation and freedom.
