V-Dem Institute report highlights global rise in autocratization

A 2026 report from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg indicates a global trend toward autocratization, noting that 44 countries are experiencing democratic decline while only 12 are democratizing.

In the United States, the country has lost its classification as a liberal democracy for the first time in over half a century due to pressures on universities and the press during Donald Trump’s second term. In Brazil, an election runoff between Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva is set to decide the nation's relationship with its recent history of political rupture.

Other notable shifts include the rise of the AfD in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt elections and the leading position of the Rassemblement National in French polls. In El Salvador, constitutional revisions have allowed for indefinite reelection under Nayib Bukele, while military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have consolidated power without elections.