Democracy ‘resilient’ in face of authoritarian backlash, Freedom House reports

Global freedom retreated in 2008 for the third year in succession, but the pace of regression slowed and democracy remains “the only system of government that demands global respect,” Freedom House reports.

Eighty-nine of 193 countries surveyed were free, representing 46 per cent of the global population, according to the annual survey of political rights and civil liberties released today. Some 42 states are “not free”, accounting for 34 per cent, although China, accounts for nearly three-fifths of that total.

In a year of “setbacks and resilience”, the most pronounced democratic setbacks came in sub-Saharan Africa and the non-Baltic former Soviet Union, while the most significant progress came in South Asia, notably with the end of military rule in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“The decline in freedom has coincided with the onset of a forceful reaction against democratic reformers, international assistance to the reformers and the very idea of democracy,” writes Arch Puddington, the watchdog’s research director. The backlash reflects undemocratic regimes’ awareness that “[i]ncreasingly, it is nongovernmental organizations and democracy advocates that constitute the most effective societal forces for reform in authoritarian states.”

The new U.S. administration is assuming office at a time when some voices argue that promoting democracy is contrary to the national interest. But, Puddington suggests, “democracy is not in disarray” or experiencing a strategic setback. Rather, democracy’s decline in several regions is largely reversible, despite the resistance of powerful authoritarian states.

In customizing the new administration’s approach to democracy assistance, policymakers should consider certain propositions, notably that elections are not in themselves sufficient to build successful democracies, but remain a prerequisite; engaging authoritarian adversaries should not entail turning a blind eye to human rights and domestic repression; isolating dictatorships may not always be effective or feasible, but nor should authoritarian regimes be inappropriately rewarded; and the world’s democracies should consistently and actively support dissidents and freedom’s advocates.