Key indicators of democracy in the United States have plummeted to their lowest levels in half a century, as the global rule of law has been significantly undermined by the actions and rhetoric of the Trump administration, according to new data from a prominent think tank.
Globally, core democratic pillars—including judicial independence, credible elections, freedom of expression, press freedom, and access to justice—have reached their lowest levels in at least three decades, according to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International Idea).
The intergovernmental organization’s annual Global State of Democracy report is regarded as the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, tracking democratic performance across 174 countries since 1975.
International Idea noted that the decline in the United States was particularly pronounced, yet it aligns with a broader global trend. The year 2025 marks the eleventh consecutive year in which more countries experienced democratic decline than improvement, representing the longest continuous downturn since the think tank’s records began.
“In 2025, the global challenges to democracy and the difficulty in stemming its erosion were both exemplified and compounded by political developments in the United States,” the report’s authors stated.
“President Donald Trump quickly consolidated power within the executive branch, wielding it to advance a narrow set of personal objectives and pursue retaliation against perceived adversaries. The consequences have been far-reaching, undermining the rule of law both domestically and internationally, while testing long-standing alliances and multilateral cooperation.”
Kevin Casas-Zamora, the secretary general of International Idea, warned that the risk of conflict increases as democracies continue to deteriorate.
“The key message from our research is that investing in democracy should be at the heart of any country’s security strategy,” he explained. “The connection between the erosion of democratic quality and the rise in conflict is not being adequately addressed in policymaking or public discourse.”
Separate research from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program at Uppsala University in Sweden indicates that 2025 saw the highest number of violent conflicts—including the most interstate conflicts—of any year in its dataset, which dates back to 1946.
Despite these challenges, the International Idea report highlighted several positive developments, including in Australia—where civil society groups were consulted on an anti-racism strategy and children’s online privacy—and in Syria, where the repressive dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad was ultimately overthrown.
In Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, youth-led popular protests successfully ousted long-serving leaders. However, the report noted that “it has proven difficult to implement far-reaching, meaningful reforms in a short period of time.”
Casas-Zamora emphasized that events in the United States clearly influence global dynamics. International Idea added the US to its list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time in 2021, pointing to a “visible deterioration” that it said began in 2019.
The think tank bases its assessments on 50 years of democratic indicators, categorizing countries into one of three groups: full democracies, “hybrid” governments, or authoritarian regimes.
Globally, the rule of law was identified as the weakest area of democracy in 2025, with 71 countries—representing 41% of those assessed—ranked as low-performing. This area was also found to be deteriorating rapidly, with 29 countries experiencing significant downturns.
“Whatever happens in the US goes global. There is now an epidemic of election denialism, of which the patient zero is the current occupant of the White House,” Casas-Zamora stated.
“I am not willing to say that the deterioration of democratic quality is inevitable or permanent. It can be reversed,” he added. “We live in a volatile world, which means that events can occur and create very positive political openings.”
Yet, despite these positive signs in Nepal, Bangladesh, and other regions, the report paints a largely bleak picture overall.
“While people continue to push back against democratic deterioration, civic space is narrowing,” the authors wrote. “Civil society and civic engagement have suffered, due in part to the widespread use of strategic lawsuits against public participation, foreign agent laws, and the criminalization of peaceful protests.”