Global freedom and democracy have been declining for two decades, reaching historic lows, according to two reports just released from the Economist Intelligence Unit and Freedom House.
It’s hard to accept that the trend toward a freer and more democratic world has reversed. But that’s just because we haven’t been looking for the right signs.
Autocracy is on the rise, but it’s not happening with tanks in the streets. Call it autocracy, authoritarianism or dictatorship, but the general concept is the same: A head of state holds all power with no meaningful oversight or checks from inside or outside the government. Democracies are falling prey to competitive authoritarianism, in which the trappings of democracy, such as elections, opposition parties and news media still exist, but the system is so rigged that the regime doesn’t have to deliver to stay in power. So how do they do it?
Look at Hungary, where its leader consolidated power with a few key steps: controlling the media, attacking opposition, stacking government institutions with loyalists and manipulating elections.
After his election in 2010, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán wasted no time transforming the state from a liberal democracy to a competitive autocracy. Like President Donald Trump, he had learned lessons from a prior stint in power and was reelected out of public angst with the status quo. His supermajority in parliament then helped him target elections by redrawing electoral districts so sharply in his favor that his party was virtually guaranteed to win.