Global State of Democracy Report 2021:
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Released by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
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Aim: To review the state of democracy around the world over the course of 2020 and 2021, with democratic trends since 2015 used as contextual reference.
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Types of Regimes: The reports refer to three main regime types: Democracies (which includes those backsliding), Hybrid and Authoritarian regimes. Hybrid and authoritarian regimes are both classified as non-democratic.
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Findings:
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The number of countries moving towards authoritarianism in 2020 was higher than that of countries going towards democracy.
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More countries than ever before are suffering from “democratic erosion” (decline in democratic quality). Around 70% of the global population now live either in non-democratic regimes or in democratically backsliding countries.
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Democratically elected Governments, including established democracies, are increasingly adopting authoritarian tactics. This democratic backsliding has often enjoyed significant popular support
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Countries such as India and Brazil have been classified as some of the most worrying examples of Backsliding democracies. India has remained in the category of a mid-level performing democracy since 2000.
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The United States was added to the list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, on account of the visible deterioration of its democratic credentials.
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The year 2020 was the worst on record, in terms of the number of countries affected by deepening autocratisation.
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International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance(IDEA):
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IDEA is an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide.
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In 2003, IDEA was granted United Nations Observer Status.
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The organization is currently chaired by Australia and includes India as a member-state.
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Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden