Global democracy has regressed to levels last seen during the Cold War era. For the average citizen worldwide, democratic conditions mirror those of 1978, based on analysis of over 200 countries.
The latest V-Dem report, its 10th edition, reveals that democracy levels in Western Europe and North America have reached their lowest point in over 50 years. This downturn stems largely from increasing autocratic tendencies in the United States.
Under the report’s metrics, the US no longer qualifies as a liberal democracy. It has shifted to an “electoral democracy” classification.
How Experts Measure Democracy
V-Dem, or Varieties of Democracy, evaluates multiple models of democratic governance. It focuses on how effectively nations represent and protect citizens’ will through leadership.
The framework integrates five core principles: electoral, liberal, deliberative, participatory, and egalitarian. Experts assess more than 600 attributes each year across 202 countries and territories, dating back to 1789. This creates the largest dataset on global democracies, encompassing over 32 million data points.
Countries fall into categories: liberal democracies, electoral democracies, electoral autocracies, or closed autocracies.
The Worldwide Decline
Only 7% of the global population resides in liberal democracies. These nations feature free and fair multiparty elections, freedom of expression and association, checks on executive power, and protections for civil liberties and legal equality. Australia counts among this select group.
In contrast, 74% of the world’s people—about six billion—live under autocracies, where power concentrates in one leader’s hands. This includes countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, India, and China.
The remaining 19% inhabit electoral democracies with fair elections but weakened checks and balances, alongside limited civil liberties and equality protections.
Australia’s key allies experience democratic backsliding, known as autocratisation. Affected nations include the US, UK, Canada, and several EU members.
On the liberal democracy index, top performers are Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and Estonia.
Australia’s Standing
Australia holds the 12th spot in overall democracy rankings, stable from prior years. Factors like compulsory and preferential voting, high female tertiary education rates, or the Senate’s structure may contribute, though no definitive proof exists.
Maintaining this rank amid global decline offers little cause for optimism. Australia shows gradual erosion, matching the pace of peers.
A concerning signal emerges in egalitarianism rankings, where Australia places 26th. Inequality widens, trust in major parties erodes, and primary votes for the two largest parties steadily fall, opening doors for new political forces.
Australia can draw lessons from top-ranked nations, particularly in tackling inequality.
The Third Wave of Autocratisation
The last 25 years mark a third wave of autocracies in modern history. Unlike prior waves driven by coups or fraud, this phase operates stealthily under legal guises, gradually undermining institutions.
Democracies deliver sustained GDP growth per capita, stronger social protections, improved health, reduced infant mortality, better access to water and electricity, and greater gender equality. Democracies avoid wars with each other and face lower conflict risks than autocracies. Autocratisation, however, heightens war and instability.
Democracy’s key weakness lies in failing to reduce economic inequality consistently. This inequality damages health, erodes social cohesion, and fuels demands for strong leaders—who often win fair elections before dismantling democratic safeguards to entrench power.
Proactive management of democratic values proves essential. As global trends reverse, Australia must not only preserve its liberal democracy but enhance it.
