Democracy is in crisis. In 2017, political rights and civil liberties around the world deteriorated to their lowest point in more than a decade. The global landscape is characterized by emboldened autocrats, beleaguered democracies, and the withdrawal of the United States from its leadership role in the global struggle for human freedom. Democratic values—particularly the right to choose leaders in free and fair elections, freedom of the press, and the rule of law—are under assault and in retreat globally.
About the Authors
Michael J. Abramowitz
Michael J. Abramowitzis president of Freedom House. From 2014 to 2017, he was director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Levine Institute for Holocaust Education. He was formerly national editor and White House correspondent for the Washington Post.
What makes elected leaders step down at the appointed hour, and what do they have to look forward to once their terms end? A look at the political afterlives of…
Theocratic democracy, the de facto grand bargain between religious groups and political leaders, offers key insights into the relationship between faith, freedom, and the global democratic recession.
Inaugural address by Liberian president George Weah; open letter by Iranian activists and intellectuals; testimony by China analyst Clive Hamilton before the Australian Parliament's Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
