Sorry Mexico/Colombia/Bolivia, you voted for the bad dude you drop to Hybrid Regime

Link to the Full Document

Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot

  • The level of democracy enjoyed by the average person in the world in 2023 is down to 1985-levels; by country-based averages, it is back to 1998.

Since 2009 – almost 15 years in a row – the share of the world’s population living in autocratizing countries has overshadowed the share living in democratizing countries.

The wave of autocratization is notable. Autocratization is ongoing in 42 countries, home to 2.8 billion people, or 35% of the world’s population. India, with 18% of the world’s population, accounts for about half of the population living in autocratizing countries.

  • Elections are “critical events” that can either trigger democratization, enable autocratization, or aid stabilization of autocratic regimes.

71% is regime-pilled

A plurality – 44% of the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people – reside in electoral autocracies, which include populous countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, The Philippines, and Türkiye.

Closed autocracies with sizeable populations include China, Iran, Myanmar, and Vietnam. This regime type accounts for 27% of the world’s population, or 2.2 billion people.

COUNTRIES AUTOCRATIZING VS. DEMOCRATIZING, 2023