From Freedom House:

The world’s authoritarian leaders often pay lip service to democracy. Especially following the end of the Cold War, democracy’s apparent victory over communism created an environment where commitment to democratic systems—or at least the appearance of it—was a prerequisite for full participation in the international community. But amid a 17-year decline in global freedom, authoritarian leaders have invoked the language of democracy in an attempt to conceal the abusive systems through which they cling to power.

As autocracies proliferate and anxieties rise about democracy’s ability to deliver, it is crucial that democracy’s supporters be able to differentiate genuinely democratic practices from the hollow imitations and self-serving “democracy” rhetoric of the world’s authoritarians.

See the full article here.