International IDEA Warns 50-Year US Democratic Lows Threaten Global Rule of Law
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Sep 15
International IDEA Warns 50-Year US Democratic Lows Threaten Global Rule of Law
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Sep 15
Summary
Nearly half of US democracy indicators have dropped to 50-year lows, prompting International IDEA to call the country the leading driver of a broader global weakening of the rule of law.
Seven US indicators posted statistically significant declines from 2020 to 2025, including access to justice, freedom of expression, press freedom and judicial independence; all but free political parties are now at record lows in the dataset.
The report ties that slide to Trump-era concentration of executive power, pressure on universities and media, and immigration actions such as the removal of 137 Venezuelans to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
International IDEA says the US retreat is reverberating abroad, citing Brazil's 2022 post-election unrest and Serbian raids on civil society groups that referenced Trump's USAID claims.
Globally, 57% of countries declined in at least one democracy measure between 2020 and 2025, while judicial independence hit a 36-year low and 2025 saw 65 violent conflicts, the most since 1946.
If democratic erosion is contagious across borders, what innovative global mechanisms can effectively reverse the shrinking of international civic space?
Could the current worldwide democratic downturn actually represent a messy but necessary transition toward new models of digital-age governance?
How does the global decline in judicial independence directly fuel the highest number of violent interstate conflicts seen since 1946?