India ranked ‘partly free’ again in the Freedom House report. Global freedom declined for the 17th consecutive year. Dramatic declines in political rights and civil liberties during 2022 were driven by direct assaults on democratic institutions.
The global struggle for democracy approached a possible turning point in 2022. The most serious setbacks for freedom and democracy were the result of war, coups, and attacks on democratic institutions by illiberal incumbents.
A total of 34 countries showed improvements in political rights and civil liberties, compared with 35 that lost ground, signaling a possible slowdown in the global decline. India ranked ‘partly free’ again in the Freedom House report for consecutevly third year.
Over the last 17 years, the number of countries and territories that receive a score of 0 out of 4 on the report’s media freedom indicator has ballooned from 14 to 33. in 2022 media freedom coming under pressure in at least 157 countries and territories.
More and more countries have remained Partly Free instead of moving toward full democratization. Still, the world is significantly freer today than it was 50 years ago.
The number of countries with declines, at 35, was the smallest recorded since the negative pattern began. Thirty-four countries registered improvements.
Free, Partly Free, Not Free
Democratic institutions suffered from abuses by powerful incumbents in 2022. After assuming office through elections, these leaders rejected the established democratic process, the freedom house reports.
Dramatic declines in freedom have been observed in every region of the world. Freedom of expression, a fundamental component of democracy, has been under sustained attack around the world for the last 17 years, the report further describes.
In 1973, when Freedom House published its first comprehensive assessment of political rights and civil liberties, only 44 of 148 countries were classified as Free. Today, 84 of 195 countries are Free. The largestdecline in democracy is in last 10years of period.
The share of countries rated Free has generally increased over the past 50 years, but progress faltered beginning
in the early 2000s.
STILL WAITING FOR A CHANCE AT FREEDOM
Most of the countries now rated Not Free have spent at least some time in the Partly Free band over the past 50 years. But these 12 holdouts have never left the Not Free category since their first Freedom in the World analysis.
Whatever maybe cas, five decades of Freedom in the World reports demonstrate that the demand for freedom is universal.
