Democratic standards across the world fell in 2023, amid the spread of wars, authoritarian crackdowns, and declining levels of trust in mainstream political parties, according to a recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Despite the number of countries categorized as democracies having increased by two last year, the global average index score fell to its lowest level since the first study was published in 2006.
The study, titled “Age of Conflict,” said the world has entered an age of conflict, and the contours of a future major war are already visible. “Today’s wars are concentrated in countries where democracy is absent or in trouble.”
Joan Hoey, the editor of the report, said scores fell for “not only those nations prosecuting wars (Azerbaijan and Russia), but for those on the receiving end (Armenia and Ukraine).”
She added “however, growing democratic resilience and consolidation in EU member states in Central Europe, as well as in Balkan and Baltic countries, ensured that the overall regional score did not significantly fall.”
The London-based think tank pointed to intensifying anti-immigration sentiment in many countries, saying the political landscape in the Americas and Europe has become increasingly polarized. The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to a rollback of freedoms across the globe, and “the results of 2023 point to a continuing democratic malaise and lack of forward momentum.”
According to the study, only 7.8 percent of the global population reside in a “full democracy” and substantially more than one third live under authoritarian rule.
Hopefully the Philippine government is changing tack and is actively and consciously deciding to contribute to the advancement of democracy, instead of helping it slide further towards authoritarianism, which was the direction it had been leaning towards during the previous dispensation.
If not, Filipinos will need to be vigilant and start pushing back, while it is still early, because it would be a shame to lose everything our forebears had lived, worked, and even died for.*
