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2h ago

V-Dem 2026 Report Finds Unprecedented U.S. Democratic Decline Under Trump

The institute reports a 24% one-year drop in the U.S. liberal democracy score, warning that the 2026 elections could determine whether the slide becomes a breakdown.

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A picture the White House taken on June 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One on March 13, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Florida to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Overview

  • V-Dem says the U.S. Liberal Democracy index fell 24% in 2025, with the country’s world rank dropping from 20th to 51st out of 179 nations.
  • Researchers attribute the decline to a rapid concentration of presidential power, weakened checks and balances, politicized oversight, and intimidation of the judiciary.
  • Freedom of expression is assessed at its lowest level in the U.S. since World War II, with the report citing suppression and intimidation of media, academia, and dissenting voices.
  • The U.S. is now classified as an electoral democracy rather than a liberal democracy in V-Dem’s framework after the first year of Trump’s second term.
  • The report places the U.S. within a broader wave of autocratization hitting Western democracies, and it flags the 2026 elections as a pivotal test for the country’s democratic trajectory.