The level of democracy enjoyed by the average
person in the world in 2023 is down to 1985-levels;
by country-based averages, it is back to 1998.
Since 2009 – almost 15 years in a row – the share
of the world’s population living in autocratizing
countries has overshadowed the share living in
democratizing countries.
The wave of autocratization is notable.
Autocratization is ongoing in 42 countries, home to
2.8 billion people, or 35% of the world’s population.
India, with 18% of the world’s population,
accounts for about half of the population living in
autocratizing countries.
Elections are “critical events” that can either trigger
democratization, enable autocratization, or aid
stabilization of autocratic regimes.
71% is regime-pilled
A plurality – 44% of the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people –
reside in electoral autocracies, which include populous countries
such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, The Philippines, and Türkiye.
Closed autocracies with sizeable populations include China, Iran,
Myanmar, and Vietnam. This regime type accounts for 27% of the
world’s population, or 2.2 billion people.
Their method of data collection is - and this is not a joke - "We asked 5 academics to rate each country on a scale of 1 to 10 and then average the result"