This article is from Democracy Digest:

The global democratic recession that began as a slow and quite uneven ebbing of progress fifteen years ago has now morphed into a substantial, comprehensive regression of freedom and democracy in the world – especially in those countries that matter most in the world because of their large size or geopolitical influence, according to a leading analyst.

The regression that has persisted – and deepened – over the past 14 years – is particularly visible among the G-20 countries and other most populous and geopolitically weighty countries, 19 of which have declined in freedom during the democratic recession, with only two improving, Stanford University’s Larry Diamond observes. The principal method of democratic regression has been incremental strangulation of democracy by elected (typically populist) executives who gradually eviscerate institutional checks, political opposition, independent media, and other forces of scrutiny and resistance in civil society, he writes for Democratization. 

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