Freedom House Report Highlights Global Authoritarian Trends and Democratic Decline

Freedom House EVERY INDICATOR HAS DECLINED OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS Electoral Pluralism and Functioning of Expression and Association and Process* Participation | Government* Personal and Assembly* Rule of Law Individual Rights Change in Score, 2007-2016 © o I I I 1 1 Ce eee *Denotes indicators scored ona 12-point scale. All others are scored on a 16-point scale. illiberal governments in countries like Hungary for their rejection of international democratic standards in favor of perceived national inter- ests. Even when there is no direct collaboration, such behavior benefits authoritarian powers by breaking down the unity and solidarity of the democratic world. ¢ There has been arise in authoritarian inter- nationalism. Authoritarian powers form loose but effective alliances to block criticism at the United Nations and regional organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Organization of American States, and to defend embattled allies like Syria's Bashar al-Assad. There is also growing replica- tion of what might be called authoritarian best practices, vividly on display in the new Chinese law on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and efforts by Russia and others to learn from China's experience in internet censorship. Modern authoritarians are working to revalidate the concept of the leacer-for-life. One of the seeming gains of the postcommunist era was the understanding that some form of term limits should be imposed to prevent incumbents from consolidating power into a dictatorship. In re- cent years, however, a number of countries have adjusted their constitutions to ease, eliminate, or circumvent executive term limits. The result has been a resurgence of potential leaders-for- life from Latin America to Eurasia. While more subtle and calibrated methods of re- pression are the defining feature of modern au- thoritarianism, the past few years have featured a reemergence of older tactics that undermine the illusions of pluralism and openness as well as integration with the global economy. Thus Moscow has pursued its military intervention in Ukraine despite economic sanctions and over- seen the assassination of opposition figures; www.freedomhouse.org HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019237