US democracy decline emboldens authoritarians, IDEA says

US democracy indicators have fallen to their lowest levels in 50 years and the decline is encouraging hardline leaders abroad, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance said Tuesday.

International IDEA said major US indicators, including press freedom and judicial independence, had hit half-century lows. It said Washington's retreat from the rules-based international order had weakened confidence in multilateralism and emboldened authoritarian leaders and populists.

The institute said about 57 percent of the countries it studied recorded a fall in at least one indicator of democratic health between 2020 and 2025. The areas assessed included judicial independence, credible elections, freedom of speech and access to justice.

IDEA secretary general Kevin Casas-Zamora, a former vice president of Costa Rica, singled out President Donald Trump, saying Trump's refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden had global effects by legitimising attacks on electoral credibility.

Casas-Zamora said the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Congress by Trump supporters accelerated the trend and encouraged the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasilia by supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

International IDEA was founded by 14 states in 1995 to support elections and monitor democracies. It now has more than 30 member states. The United States had been an observer member but left this year.