Global State of Democracy Report, 2021

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About Global State of Democracy Report-

• The report reviews the state of democracy around the world over the course of 2020 and 2021, with democratic trends since 2015 used as contextual reference.
• It is based on analysis of events that have impacted democratic governance globally since the start of the pandemic, based on various data sources.
• The reports refer to three main regime types: democracies, hybrid and authoritarian regimes (Hybrid and authoritarian regimes are both classified as non-democratic).
• Democracies, at a minimum, hold competitive elections in which the opposition stands a realistic chance of accessing power. 
• Hybrid regimes tend to have a somewhat more open—but still insufficient—space for civil society and the media than authoritarian regimes.
• It has said that 20 countries moved in the direction of authoritarianism, seven countries moved towards democracy.
• The report highlighted the case of Brazil and India as some of the most worrying examples of backsliding. 
• However, India remained in the category of a mid-level performing democracy as it has since 2000.
• The United States and three members of the European Union (EU) [Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, which holds the chair of the EU in 2021] have also seen concerning democratic declines.
• The pandemic had a particularly damaging effect on non-democratic countries, further closing their already reduced civic space.
• The uneven global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as anti-vaccine views, undermine the uptake of vaccination programmes and risk prolonging the health crisis and normalising restrictions on basic freedoms.

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