Democracy on the Decline

Freedom House’s average global score (out of 100) for political rights and civil liberties has been declining for more than a decade.

This line chart shows the average global decline of democracy from 2003 to 2023 based on the Freedom House's analysis of the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, the functioning of the government, freedom of expression and of belief, associational and organizational rights, the rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights.

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The average scores are given for the years in which the Freedom in the World report was published, but each report reviews the previous year. For example, the Freedom in the World report published in 2023 reviews the year 2022.

Source: Freedom House, Aggregate Category and Subcategory Scores, 2003-2023Get the data