Our democracy—is it alive? Do we still live in a democratic republic, or is our democracy dead, no longer a governance of, by and for the people? How is the American Experiment faring? As it turns out, not so well.
On Nov. 22, 2021, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm, Sweden, released its 2021 report on “The Global State of Democracy.” The report concluded that democracy’s “survival is endangered by a perfect storm of threats, both from within and from a rising tide of authoritarianism.” “The world is becoming more authoritarian as nondemocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression. And many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by … restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law.”
Over the past year, 60 countries became less free, while only 25 improved. Globally, 38% of people live in countries that are not free (the highest since 1997); 20% live in free countries; and 42% live in “partly free” countries. Sadly, the United States falls within this last category
