Freedom of the World 2024

Global freedom declined for the 18th consecutive year in 2023. The scope and scale of deterioration were extensive, affecting one-fifth of the world’s population. Everywhere, the downturn in rights was driven by attacks on pluralism—the peaceful coexistence of people with different political ideas, religions, or ethnic identities—that harmed elections and sowed violence. These intensifying assaults on a core feature of democracy reinforce the urgent need to support the groups and individuals, including human rights defenders and journalists, who are on the front lines of the struggle for freedom worldwide.

Choosing democracy in 2024

The rejection of pluralism by authoritarian leaders and armed groups during 2023 produced repression, violence, and a steep decline in overall freedom. This year, voters around the world will be asked to embrace democracy despite the countervailing forces of division and exclusion. The results of these elections will shape the international environment for years to come.

SOUTH AFRICA

Citizens of South Africa, once a beacon of democratic hope, will go to the polls this summer. The African National Congress (ANC) has governed without interruption since 1994 but now faces serious challenges, including rising violent crime, xenophobia, high youth unemployment, and insufficient accountability for corruption. Thirty years after antiapartheid leader Nelson Mandela came to power, 70 percent of South Africans are dissatisfied with the way that democracy is working, according to the survey group Afrobarometer.

INDIA

India’s elections will take place within a media landscape characterized by increasing legal attacks on critical journalists and outlets, the spread of internet troll farms, and the use of sophisticated spyware against reporters, civic activists, and opposition politicians. During the campaign, potential voters may receive bigoted information from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party through social media, which could further inflame already destructive ethnic and religious hatreds.

UNITED STATES

In the United States, harassment and intimidation of federal, state, and local politicians, election administrators, and judges pose a serious challenge to the conduct of November’s presidential election. Threats of violence can have far-reaching, harmful effects, potentially undermining compliance with election rules or deterring participation entirely. Actual violence related to political disputes can and has cost people their lives. Still haunted by the January 2021 attack on the Capitol and related court cases, Americans are heading into a decisive election starkly divided, with some questioning the very utility of fundamental democratic institutions.

The conduct of national elections in South Africa, India, and the United States, three of the most influential democracies in the world, will have ripple effects across the globe, with implications for international trade, interstate relations, and movements for freedom in authoritarian settings. But other electoral contests will also have important consequences.

EUROPEAN UNION

In June, elections for the European Parliament will be held in 27 member states, and the new legislators will elect the president of the European Commission. The current president, Ursula von der Leyen, has been an important supporter of Ukraine’s efforts to repel Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

 

The United Kingdom is likely to hold its first general elections since the completion of Brexit, its departure from the European Union in 2020. Both the EU and the UK continue to grapple with the issue of migration and have increasingly sought deals with authoritarian leaders that are meant to prevent the irregular entry of migrants and asylum seekers.

Two autocrats at the center of such deals, Tunisian president Kaïs Saied and Rwandan president Paul Kagame, will themselves seek new terms in deeply flawed contests set to take place in 2024.

All this voting will proceed in a global context that has become increasingly hostile to the sort of respect for different political, religious, and ethnic identities that sustain a democratic society. Over the past decade or more, many democracies have shirked their responsibility as stewards of the international system, failing to condemn coups, work for the peaceful resolution of destabilizing conflicts, and prevent abject repression in places like Afghanistan, China, Iran, and Russia from growing ever worse. In some countries, elections have elevated illiberal leaders who dismantle democratic institutions from within. Amid isolationist and discriminatory rhetoric, democratic governments and citizens may be tempted to wall themselves off from these challenges.

But free people and free nations are stronger together, and easier prey for authoritarians on their own. It is only by upholding inclusive principles at home, supporting those on the front lines of the struggle abroad, and building robust international partnerships based on shared values that democracies can reverse the global decline in freedom.

Flawed elections and armed conflict contributed to the 18^th year of democratic decline according to the Freedom House organization. But by drawing strength from diversity, protecting dissent, and building international coalitions to support their own norms and values, democratic forces can still reverse the long decline in global freedom.

 

Sources: reprinted from Freedom House freedomhouse.org

 

The enemies of freedom have pushed the false narrative that democracy is in decline because it is incapable of addressing people’s needs. In fact, democracy is in decline because its most prominent exemplars are not doing enough to protect it. Global leadership and solidarity from democratic states are urgently needed.

Governments that understand the value of democracy, including the political powers of Washington, have a responsibility to band together to deliver on its benefits, counter its adversaries, and support its defenders. They must also put their own houses in order to shore up their credibility and fortify their institutions against politicians and other actors who are willing to trample democratic principles in the pursuit of power. If free societies fail to take these basic steps, the world will become ever more hostile to the values they hold dear, and no country will be safe from the destructive effects of dictatorship.

According to the Freedom house report, the global decline in democracy has accelerated in 2020, and the share of countries designated Not Free has reached its highest level since 2006. The report downgrades the freedom scores of 73 countries, representing 75 percent of the global population. Some of the countries that experienced significant deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties include India, Belarus, Hong Kong, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Poland, and Hungary. However, the exact number of countries that have seen the rise of anti-democratic governments for authoritarian regimes in the last ten years may vary depending on the criteria and methodology used to measure democracy.

For most of the past 75 years, despite many mistakes, the United States has aspired to a foreign policy based on democratic principles and support for human rights. When adhered to, these guiding lights, have enabled the United States to act as a leader on the global state, pressuring offenders to reform, encouraging activists to continue their fight, and rallying partners to act in concert.

Everyone benefits when the United States serves as a positive model, and the country itself reaps ample returns from a more democratic world. Such a world generates more trade and fairer markets for US goods and services, as well as more reliable allies for collective defense. A global environment where freedom flourishes is more friendly, stable, and secure, with fewer military conflicts and less displacement of refugees and asylum seekers. It also serves as an effective check against authoritarian actors who are only too happy to fill the void.

Next: The US decline on the Global Democratic Index.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all those people in the Middle East who have been affected by the brutal tragedy and violence.
Did the republicans just get a golden ticket to the 2024 elections.

The attack on Israel was a terrible tragedy, and it should not be exploited for political gain. However, some politicians will inevitably try to use it to advance their own agendas, or to blame the US for the breach. One Israeli official has already accused the US intelligence of failing to detect the signs of the attack.

I think the US will react in three ways. First, they will offer more aid and equipment to Israel, even though Israel already has the best defense system and military capabilities in the world. Second, they will criticize Biden and the intelligence agency for not providing vital information that could have prevented the attack. Third, they will demand more funding and stricter enforcement for border security. They will argue that this attack shows the need to protect the US from external threats.

I can imagine Republicans coordinating their strategy over the weekend, and launching their attack on Monday morning, regardless of what intelligence and events unfold over the weekend.

Here is how I expect them to spin the tragedy:

• They will blame the Biden administration and the Intelligence Department for not giving enough intelligence to the Israelis.
• They will ask Congress to appropriate more money for Israel, and to cut Social Security, Medicare, and other social programs to pay for it.
• They will use this as a rallying cry to secure the border by increasing enforcement, providing more funding, and deploying troops.

They will repeat these talking points through every channel of the Republican party until the election cycle.

They will accuse Biden and all Democrats of being soft on security, intelligence, crime, border crossings, and military readiness.

And finally, they will initiate more investigations to find out who they can blame, embarrass, humiliate, and destroy to make themselves look good.

This is a horrific event that deserves compassion and solidarity, not political manipulation. It is sad that some Republicans will use it as an opportunity to advance their own interests.

The republicans will see this as a golden ticket to the election.