Study: US Democracy Crashes to Fifty-Year Low Globally

A new warning sounds loud across the globe: American democracy is slipping, and the world feels it. The United States is speeding up a global drop in legal order, says a fresh study from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Nearly half of the measures used to track US democracy have crashed to their lowest points in fifty years.

The report dropped on Tuesday calls America the "most prominent example and accelerator" of this trend. Its democratic decay hurts far beyond borders. President Donald Trump quickly gathered power inside the executive branch. He pushed a narrow set of personal goals while seeking revenge against perceived enemies. In that environment, where public expression shrinks and checks on power face limits, resistance becomes unsafe for many.

Globally, about 57 percent of countries saw at least one key democratic indicator fall between 2020 and 2025. Judicial independence hit a thirty-six-year low. Credible elections are now at their worst level in three decades. The report singles out the US because its decline is so big and its global influence is so strong. Its retreat from shared norms strains multilateral institutions and encourages authoritarian leaders elsewhere.

"The results have been far-reaching, undermining the rule of law domestically and internationally and testing long-standing alliances and multilateral cooperation," the document stated. It points to Brazil and Serbia as clear proof. After Jair Bolsonaro lost the 2022 Brazilian election, he tried to stay in power. His supporters stormed government buildings later. That aftermath "echoed" what happened following the 2020 US election. In Serbia, officials used claims by Trump about USAID mismanagement to justify raids on civil society groups.

"For decades, the rule of law both domestically and in the international order has underpinned the resilience of democracies," said International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora. "Now, the rapid decline of democracy in the USA is weakening judicial independence and fragmenting the international system, threatening democracy around the world."

The US recorded seven statistically significant declines between 2020 and 2025. These drops hit access to justice, freedom of expression, press freedom, and judicial independence. Only free political parties avoided this fate; the other six indicators are now at historical lows within the dataset's history. Press freedom faces cuts to public broadcaster funding like NPR, PBS, and the US Agency for Global Media. The report also notes "ad hominem attacks on journalists, particularly women." Lawsuits target media organizations such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC.

Universities face pressure too. Executive measures affecting funding and academic freedom in universities provide another example of declining Freedom of Expression. This includes efforts to influence accreditation and hiring processes. Withholding federal funds from Harvard and Columbia serves as proof. The report calls the Trump administration's use of the immigration system the "starkest example" of declining access to justice.

A new report highlights that 137 Venezuelans were shipped to El Salvador under the authority of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Many of these individuals had little or no established connection to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, yet they were denied the chance to properly challenge their removal in court. This legal loophole leaves families vulnerable and strips away basic due process rights for people caught in geopolitical crossfire.

The document also warns that the broader erosion of democracy comes with severe consequences for global security. Researchers found that some forms of democratic decline are associated with a greater risk of violent conflict. When institutions weaken, instability spreads faster than most leaders expect.

There were 65 violent conflicts recorded in 2025, marking the highest number since the Uppsala Conflict Data Program's series began in 1946. This includes a record eight conflicts between states, signaling a dangerous shift toward international warfare rather than internal unrest. Experts say this trend cannot be ignored by policymakers anywhere on Earth.

Government directives now hold immense power over individual lives, often without meaningful oversight. When rules allow for mass deportations based on gang affiliations that never existed, the public pays a heavy price in fear and uncertainty. Communities suffer when families are torn apart by decisions made far away from their homes.