The United States has reached its lowest level of democratic performance in 50 years, according to a new global report released Tuesday by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The organization, which tracks democratic health across 174 countries using data dating back to 1975, focused its latest assessment on changes occurring between 2020 and 2025.
Dr. Seema Shah, who leads the Stockholm-based institute’s democracy assessment team, noted that researchers had observed a global pattern of democratic erosion for several years. “Severe drops in scores that measure freedom of expression, freedom of the press, credible elections, effective parliament,” Shah said. While she remarked that undemocratic trends have historically corrected themselves over the past half-century, this instance appears different.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” Shah said. “So that’s really worrying, especially because we also see that people are more willing in some cases to consider non-democratic leadership or non-democratic governance.”
The report identified the United States as the clearest example of this decline. It stated that in 2025, President Donald Trump rapidly accumulated executive power to pursue personal goals and retaliate against perceived adversaries. According to the report, these actions have undermined the rule of law both domestically and internationally while straining long-standing alliances and multilateral cooperation.
Shah explained that the U.S. was historically viewed as a bastion of democratic governance, characterized by strong judicial independence and a leading role in promoting democracy worldwide. However, she argued that the current administration is implementing policies that harm domestic democracy while weakening global norms and providing ammunition for authoritarian leaders elsewhere.
The report also highlighted a shift in American foreign policy, noting that democracy is no longer a central focus. Democratic values are reportedly no longer the basis for forming new global alliances, and aid previously directed toward fostering democracy in developing nations has been dismantled. This aligns with comments Trump made at a summit in Riyadh last year, where he criticized previous administrations as interventionist and declared the U.S. would stop giving other countries lectures on how to live.
On the domestic front, the United States saw declines in nearly half of the 30 indicators measured by the institute, with many hitting 50-year lows. Globally, 57% of surveyed countries showed declines in at least one key democratic indicator, with the rule of law identified as the weakest area worldwide.
While the report acknowledged democratic resurgences in nations such as Poland, Hungary, and Syria, Shah cautioned that recovery is often short-lived. Research indicates that in 90% of cases where a democracy suffers a decline and then experiences a U-turn, it subsequently faces another democratic decline.
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