WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seema Shah is the head of the democracy assessment team at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. She identified the country as a primary driver of global democratic erosion. Shah said the clearest example, unfortunately, is the United States.

The 2026 Global State of Democracy report focuses on changes in democratic performance between 2020 and 2025. The report tracks democratic performance across 174 countries using data from 1975 to 2025. The institute measures 30 indicators of democratic performance.

The United States saw declines in nearly half of the 30 democratic performance indicators measured by the institute. The official record states that the United States recorded seven statistically significant declines between 2020 and 2025, including in access to justice, freedom of expression, press freedom, and judicial independence.

Shah said there were severe drops in scores that measure freedom of expression, freedom of the press, credible elections, and effective parliament. She said the situation is getting worse and worse.

Shah stated that democracy is no longer the central focus of U.S. foreign policy. She noted that democratic aid the U.S. used to provide to developing countries has been dismantled. She said that inside the U.S. and outside the U.S., the U.S. administration has policies harming domestic democracy, but also really weakening global norms and actually providing fodder for other non-democratic leaders. She said that is no longer the case regarding the U.S. role as a bastion of democratic governance.

Globally, 57% of the 174 countries surveyed by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance showed declines in at least one key indicator of democratic performance. The rule of law was the weakest-performing area of democracy globally in the survey.

Timeline

In 2025, the Global State of Democracy report states that President Donald Trump amassed power in the executive branch to further personal goals and pursue retaliation against perceived enemies. The report further states that the results of these actions undermined the rule of law domestically and internationally and tested long-standing alliances. Also in 2025, at a summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump criticized previous U.S. administrations as interventionist "and said the U.S. would no longer give other countries" lectures on how to live. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance released its annual Global State of Democracy report on September 15, 2026.

Why It Matters

The decline of the United States, historically a major proponent of democratic governance, signals a shift in global norms. Seema Shah warned that U.S. administration policies are weakening these norms and providing justification for non-democratic leaders abroad. This shift coincides with a broader global trend where more than half of surveyed nations experienced democratic setbacks, with the rule of law emerging as the most vulnerable area.

Recovery from such declines presents challenges. According to Shah, research indicates that in 90% of cases, a democracy that suffers decline and then experiences a recovery, often called a U-turn, will suffer another democratic decline within five years. She questioned the mechanisms available to reverse such trends without violating democratic principles, asking what can be done unless one is willing to break democratic laws to remove those in power.