Global democracy has endured a battering over the past decade, and those who hoped for a brighter century may be wondering when to expect relief, note Mark Lagon, the president of Freedom House, and Arch Puddington, the group’s senior vice president for research. Every year since 2006 more democracies have experienced erosion in political rights and civil liberties than have registered gains, as we find in our annual Freedom in the World report. In all, 110 countries, more than half the world’s total, have suffered some loss in freedom during the past 10 years, they write for the Wall Street Journal:
Authoritarian states have ratcheted up internal repression, and the most powerful dictatorships—China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia—have extended their antidemocratic influence abroad. Especially disturbing is the way indirect effects of oppression and misrule have seeped into established democracies in North America, Europe and elsewhere. A surge in terrorism has not only brought death and mayhem to millions in the Middle East. It also has empowered nativist and extreme nationalist politicians in major democracies such as France, and reignited demands for more surveillance and less tolerant policies toward immigrants.
