‘Democracy around world faces alarming decline’

Democracy is facing an 'alarming' fall throughout the world as more countries move toward authoritarianism, according to an annual report by the Freedom House, reports bdnews24.com.

The report, titled Freedom in the World, assesses the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the world and is composed of numerical ratings for 195 countries and 14 territories. It has been published since 1973.

The report found that 2018 was the 13th consecutive year of deteriorating freedoms around the globe.

A total of 68 countries suffered a decline in political rights and civil liberties during the past 12 months, with only 50 counties registering any progress in these areas, it said.

The 13 years of decline have touched all parts of the world and affected Free, Partly Free, and Not Free countries alike.

Every region, except Asia-Pacific, has a lower average score for 2018 than it did in 2005, and even Asia declined when countries with less than 1 million people-mostly small Pacific Island states-are excluded.

Not Free countries as a group suffered a more significant score drop than Free or Partly Free countries, which also declined, the report said. A large number of countries that made progress in democratisation during the post-cold war era were unable to maintain it.

On average, countries that earned a status upgrade-from Not Free to Partly Free, or Partly Free to Free-between 1988 and 2005 have faced an 11 per cent drop in their numerical score during the 13 years of decline, the report said.