Donald Trump’s authoritarian drift in his second term places the country on a par with Hungary or Turkey, according to a ranking by Sweden’s V-Dem Institute
Democratic backsliding is advancing in the developed world. The annual report from Sweden’s V-Dem Institute leaves no room for doubt: almost a quarter of the world experienced democratic backsliding, or a shift towards autocratization, in 2025, and six of the 10 newly regressive countries identified in the research are located in Europe and North America, including G-7 powers such as Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
But the most unsettling conclusion reached by the Swedish institute is that the United States — once a proud beacon of the more or less free world — is no longer a liberal democracy and is now on a par with countries like Hungary or Turkey, thanks to President Donald Trump. Autocracy is also spreading throughout Europe, but its reach extends far beyond the Old Continent: 41% of the world’s population (3.4 billion people) now live in countries where democracy is eroding.
The institute, which belongs to the University of Gothenburg and uses 48 metrics in its evaluation, is one of the most reliable sources when it comes to rating the state of governments around the world, and the conclusion of its 2026 study confirms the worst fears about the authoritarian drift of the U.S. under Trump’s leadership.
Let’s be honest, the US was no shining beacon of democracy even before Trump. The system was rotten and everyone knew it. However, those with the power to change it have no incentive to do so. It was basically held up because the poeple in charge had some common decency. At that point it’s just a matter of time before someone came along that didn’t have this basic decency.
I think the people of the UK should take a long, hard look at how the situation has evolved in the US and decide if they want to change their system to avoid having only two parties dominate the political climate. Ironically, being a monarchy means they are probably more resistant to going down the same route, but I suspect the parties are going to get more radical as time goes on and the royals aren’t terribly popular these days.
(Opinion to be taken with a pinch of salt. I am no expert in these things and don’t live in either country; We’ve got our own radicalization and issues with our own democracy.)
the US was no shining beacon of democracy even before Trump
he didnt create that corrupt system, hes just taking advantage of it…
actually he and the other pedo billionaires did help to create the corrupt system who am I kidding?
WWII changed everything about the USA. Everywhere else in the world, manufacturing was bombed to oblivion, the populace unable to rebuild without a coordinated effort from governments and NGOs.
The US became a hub of manufacturing. We exported our culture, and our products, all over the world. Our currency and our language became the standard in business.
Everything since then has been a slow walk backwards, so that the ultrawealthy could exert more control and line their pockets. A return to the “real” American values of exploitation.
The US became a hub of manufacturing. We exported our culture, and our products, all over the world.
only because the rest of the world was bombed to shit. As soon as they rebuilt, they did everything better.
I think the people of the UK should take a long, hard look at how the situation has evolved in the US and decide if they want to change their system to avoid having only two parties dominate the political climate.
There are currently 5 parties vying for position here, but your point is still generally true. Hopefully with the rise of smaller parties, we might start to see a move towards a more proportional system, but I’m not holding my breath.
There are currently 5 parties vying for position here
I know you’re not disagreeing, but I find it absolutely hilarious (in a bad way) that UK political parties will put out flyers of who is most likely to win, as a way to convince people to vote for them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zDLxgEquxA0
All while having rejected bringing in preferential voting at a referendum, not even that long ago.
As an Australian, may I say, you royally fucked up on that one. We have issues in our electoral system too, (mostly around lower house electorates being single-member, and not say 3-member to more accurately represent the electorate), but thank Christ we have preferential voting.
As an Australian, may I say, you royally fucked up on that one.
I take exception to that. The law which allowed for the referendum required Royal Assent, but that is the same law which would have allowed for the implementation of preferential voting. It was the statutory repealing of that law where things really went bad.
I would say we statutorily fucked it up.
Haha nice
I think the people of the UK should take a long, hard look at how the situation has evolved
LOL… the same people who voted Brexit. Sure.
I can remember when lots of the reactionary centrists and not a few on the left, oh, and of course, the right wing blow-hards, were playing Tone Police for everyone in 2016, and 2020 and again in 2024: lecturing us all about how uncivil it all was to be talking about fascism in relation to conservatives.
I wonder where all the WELLACKTUALLY guys are now.
not a few on the left,
Nah, was a lot actually. I know a lot of people that were really upset after the election and after the first few months. Then it stopped being a problem. “You’re overreacting.” “Don’t think about it.” “We’ll be fine next election.”
We would have been if we could get rid of the controlled opposition. But you all still trust the establishment democrats somehow.
A lot of the predictions and fears did not come true during Trump‘s first presidency.
It went from being four weapon manufacturing companies pretending to be a democracy to four weapon manufacturing companies pretending to be a dictatorship.
The pedofile class doesn’t want democracy
As far as I’m concerned, everyone who is a billionaire has to prove they had nothing to do with Epstein or pedophilia in general.
All right, everybody needs pitchforks and torches. And we need four horses with four long ropes
Why do you think almost the entire cabinet lives on military bases.
He’s making moves like he’s expecting to be around another 50 years when he probably has 10 at the most. I’m way more afraid of who he might be paving the way for.
The sooner everyone recognizes this, the better
Weird how everyone who was told they were overreacting are not being told that anymore.
Worldwide, democracy has regressed to its lowest levels since the mid-1970s
I’ve been saying over and over again here, that it’s generally been going backwards since the 70’s. This goes for democracy, respect for human rights and minorities, and the peace movement.
And many people here simply don’t believe it. (I’m guessing younger ones)
We need a second hippie revolution. And I don’t mean the half-assed underground “comebacks” from the late 90s and 2010s, a real movement that actually influences policy.
Lol, the hippies didn’t do shit.
Hippies did fuck all and then ended up voting for Reagan.
It’s not just younger ones. I talk to a large group of boomers and they are all in the same boat of “everything is fine, we’ll just vote the next election. We’ve had presidents like this before.”
We’ve had presidents like this before.”
On that they are seriously mistaken, of course there have been bad presidents like Bush, but Trump is a whole new class of bad.
I hope they are right, and that all this can be solved by a simple election, but I’m not betting on it.
No one will grow a ball and stop him, so it’s already too late. If you’re an American, your life will never be the same.
It’s not a single person issue. The entire system is broken. Taking out one leader is not going to fix anything.
… Okay no really, who ever in their right mind considered us a “liberal democracy”?
Swedens V-Dem Institute, apparently.
Given that elections are the defining feature of a democracy, I think it would be prudent to wait until after the mid term elections to start proclaiming the demise of American democracy. Granted, the Republicans are trying their best with mass disenfranchisement, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be.
