Study shows decline in democracy
More and more countries are ruled autocratically
March 19, 2024, 8:25 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
According to an analysis by the Bertelsmann Foundation, there have never been as few democratically governed countries as there are today. This means that autocracies are on the rise worldwide. This also means that more and more heads of state are relying on an economic system that is deliberately designed to be unfair.
According to an analysis, a decline in democracies among developing and emerging countries also has an impact on economic development, inequality and poverty. Looking at 137 states from Algeria to the Central African Republic, the Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Transformation Index” comes to the conclusion: “At no time in the past twenty years have so few states been governed democratically as today.” At the same time, the authors attested to economic inequality and failed economic policies in many countries. There is massive social exclusion in 83 of the 137 countries.
The study of developing and emerging countries showed that there are now only 63 democracies with a total population of around three billion people, compared to 74 autocracies with around four billion people. The first statements from the study were presented on Monday at an event organized by the foundation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and now the entire study has been published.
The country reports and data evaluated have shown “new lows” in terms of the quality of democracy, government performance and economic development. “In an increasing number of countries, it is the opponents of democratic and market economy reforms who are in power.” Governments in the overwhelming majority of countries therefore see themselves “not as drivers of overall social development, but as representatives of particular interests in an economic system that is deliberately designed to be unfair.”
“Moderate” Autocracies: Türkiye, Iraq and Singapore
Efforts are often aimed at maintaining a corrupt system that does not allow free and fair economic competition, the study says. “Concentration of power or retention of power by a small elite often takes precedence over shaping a more open and inclusive economic order.” This has negative consequences for the extent of inequality and poverty.
In the 74 autocratic countries, authoritarian leadership allows only very limited or no political participation, the study emphasizes. Repression, concentration of power, elimination of remaining control bodies and decisions in narrow leadership circles are characteristic. The 25 “moderate” autocracies include Turkey, Algeria, Iraq, Uganda, Nigeria as well as Jordan and Singapore, which, according to the foundation, have authoritarian rule. In addition, Tunisia, Benin and El Salvador, which were still classified as democracies in 2022.
There are also 49 “hardliner autocracies,” which, according to the analysis, also include Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin declared himself the winner again on Sunday after a presidential election that was criticized as a farce. And the study authors write about the People’s Republic of China: “The Chinese regime under Xi Jinping is increasingly mutating from one-party rule to an absolutist monocracy.”
Democracy with defects: Ukraine, Albania and South Africa
It is similar with regimes in coup states such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Myanmar. And in Arab states such as Egypt, Sudan and Syria, repression has reached the highest levels and any political opposition is being nipped in the bud. The situation is similarly drastic in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Iran and Chad.
Even in democracies classified as “defective” or “severely defective”, freedom for political participation is shrinking; according to the study, the fairness of elections – for example in Hungary – is impaired, critical media are harassed – example in India – or the activities of organizations critical of the government are hindered – like this like in Serbia. The analysis also includes Albania, Romania, Ukraine and South Africa in the group of democracies with defects. According to the foundation, examples such as those recently in Poland give reason for hope – there the population voted out authoritarian forces.
High level of democracy: Latvia, Czech Republic, South Korea
The evaluation sees a particularly high level of democracy in the EU members Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, but also in Jamaica, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, South Korea and Taiwan. Good politics is therefore planned for the long term, transparent and geared towards the common good. The stability of democratic systems depends largely on democratic institutions that are anchored in the rule of law, functioning and accepted.
And democracy thrives on a strong and vibrant society, it continued. “An important, sometimes the last bastion in the defense of democracy is the resilience of democratic civil society.”