Task

Democratic Backsliding

Democratic backsliding is a gradual decline in the quality of democracy and the opposite of democratisation. If unchecked, democratic backsliding will result in states losing their democratic qualities.

A sign urging people to register to vote is displayed near a line of people at a voting site in New York during the 2020 election. Photo. — Voters are lining up to cast their vote during the 2020 US election.
Across the world, there are now more people living in undemocratic countries (54.3%) than in democratic countries (45.7%). Image: Seth Wenig / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Task:

Choose two countries where at least one is an English-speaking country. Study them closely and find out what is happening with the democratic development in these countries. Your text/presentation should also contain a discussion about which indicators that need to be in place in democratic countries and reflections about how we can prevent and reverse democratic backsliding.

Base your work on the information you find in the EIU democracy index and expand on this by using other sources. You will find the link to the democracy index and other useful sources at the end of the article.

Note:

The EIU democracy index differentiates between full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. While you are free to pick the countries you prefer, you will most likely find more information about countries that are defined as flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian regimes.

During your text/presentation, reflect on the following questions:

What are the cornerstones of a democracy? Which indicators need to be in place for a country to be able to call itself democratic? (Free elections, human rights, free access to information, rule of law ...)
What are the most important democratic challenges that we see in the world today?
How can we prevent and reverse democratic backsliding - as a society and as individual citizens?
What are the consequences if this development continues?

As part of your discussion, refer to the two countries you have chosen and explain how they experience democratic backsliding.

What is the form of government in the two countries that you have chosen? Are these countries flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian regimes?
Have these countries become more or less democratic in the past few years? (You will find the development of the individual countries in the EIU's Democracy Index.)
What are their greatest democratic challenges? Analyse the countries using the indicators of democracy that you have identified.