There has been growing concern in recent years that the concept of democracy is in retreat. This concern appears to be echoed in a recent paper from the University of Gothenburg, which shows that 70% of the world’s population is now living under a dictatorship.

“On the same day that we concluded this year’s democracy report, President Putin of Russia ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This war is being waged by the same man who, 20 years ago, triggered the third wave of autocratization in the world,” the researchers explain.

Democratic decline

The invasion of Ukraine marks the latest step in the so-called democratic decline, with autocratic leaders becoming not only increasingly common but also increasingly emboldened in the actions they’re willing to take.

In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 we were supposedly in the midst of Francis Fukuyama called the “end of history” with the march of liberal democracy inevitable. Sadly, the Swedish report reveals that the global level of democracy is back at levels last seen in 1989.

“The figures were the highest in 2012, when there were 42 liberal democracies in the world,” they explain. “In other words, democracies that include things that go beyond government by the people itself: a state governed by the rule of law and fundamental human rights. In 2021, that figure is down to 34 liberal democracies. This means that only 13% of the world’s population live in a democracy as we define it in Sweden, for example.”

The democratic decline has been especially strong in areas such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, Central Asia, and the Pacific region. These areas have seen democracies dismantled, often by elected leaders who are happy to tear down key democratic institutions, such as the media and the judiciary.

Indeed, in 2020 the EU got its first dictatorship when Hungary was designated as such, but this is not a unique occurrence, with 20% of member states reported to have become autocratized in the last decade.

“Our measurements show that closed autocracies have increased from 25 to 30 countries globally,” the researchers explain. “Dictatorships are on the rise around the world. Today, 5.4 billion people, 70%, live in dictatorships.”