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Is Democracy in Decline?
The data on democratic backsliding, what causes it, and whether it can be reversed
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For most of the post-World War II period, democracy was expanding. The number of electoral democracies rose from around 40 in 1975 to more than 120 by the early 2000s. That trend has reversed. The V-Dem institute measures democratic backsliding — erosion of democratic norms, institutions, and practices short of full authoritarian takeover — and finds that more countries experienced net decline in democracy in 2022 than at any point since tracking began.
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Question 1 of 3According to V-Dem data, what has been the overall trend in democracy since the early 2000s?