this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Donald Trump’s authoritarian drift in his second term places the country on a par with Hungary or Turkey, according to a ranking by Sweden’s V-Dem Institute

Democratic backsliding is advancing in the developed world. The annual report from Sweden's V-Dem Institute leaves no room for doubt: almost a quarter of the world experienced democratic backsliding, or a shift towards autocratization, in 2025, and six of the 10 newly regressive countries identified in the research are located in Europe and North America, including G-7 powers such as Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

But the most unsettling conclusion reached by the Swedish institute is that the United States


once a proud beacon of the more or less free world


is no longer a liberal democracy and is now on a par with countries like Hungary or Turkey, thanks to President Donald Trump. Autocracy is also spreading throughout Europe, but its reach extends far beyond the Old Continent: 41% of the world's population (3.4 billion people) now live in countries where democracy is eroding.

The institute, which belongs to the University of Gothenburg and uses 48 metrics in its evaluation, is one of the most reliable sources when it comes to rating the state of governments around the world, and the conclusion of its 2026 study confirms the worst fears about the authoritarian drift of the U.S. under Trump's leadership.

(page 2) 49 comments
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[–] SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago (5 children)

No one will grow a ball and stop him, so it's already too late. If you're an American, your life will never be the same.

[–] teyrnon@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

He's on his way out. And despite the inevitability of the party fixing elections with the controlled opposition we have that these motherfuckers still trust somehow, in time, a true leader will emerge and lay waste to the oligarchy, it's as certain as spring finally arriving.

[–] Sektor@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Only thing that can stop him is his incompetence.

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[–] icedaemon0@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

always has been

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 months ago

The sooner everyone recognizes this, the better

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Bad news, guys

[–] Helloooo@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Us was always an electoral autocracy, you can vote an autocrat, it was never a democratic nation. Only a country which follow effective proportional representation system of democracy can be claimed as a democracy

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

In 1963 they murdered the democratically elected president in front of the whole world. Do you really think we’ve been a democracy since then?

[–] atropa@piefed.social 1 points 4 months ago
[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world -2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Wait... did they think we were a liberal democracy under Biden, Obama, Bush, Bush Jr., Clinton, Reagan?

Goofballs

[–] BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

We elected a black man twice, racism is over, right? Right?! Oh no...

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago

When the "good guy" is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, you know it's over.

[–] Cytobit@piefed.social -3 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Given that elections are the defining feature of a democracy, I think it would be prudent to wait until after the mid term elections to start proclaiming the demise of American democracy. Granted, the Republicans are trying their best with mass disenfranchisement, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be.

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