The report was published by the International Idea Organization (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Representation) based in Stockholm.
“In recent years, we have been observing a tectonic change in the foundations of democracy in the world.” This year we see that these areas that have long been problematic, such as law, have no major improvement, but what was once the strongest side of democracy, i.e. the election representation, also begins to bleed. And this is, I think, one of the important warnings ” – emphasized Katarzyna Gardapkhada, director of global programs at the International Idea.
The organization emphasized in its report that 54 percent Among the surveyed countries, there was a decrease in at least one indicator of the functioning of democracy (representation, civil rights, law and participation) compared to the results of five years ago. The year 2024 was the ninth in a row in which the general state of democracy worsened in most countries.
Last year, power representatives chose 1.6 billion people in the world. At the same time, the reliable election indicator has fallen to the lowest level in 30 years. The weakening of electoral systems was found in 20 percent. surveyed countries.
“There is also a very disturbing greatest decline in the freedom of the press, since we have been conducting these measurements, i.e. for almost 50 years,” Gardapkhada noticed. According to the state of freedom of speech, the state of freedom deteriorated in 25 percent. countries covered by the analysis.
In the conclusions of the International Idea, attention was paid to the improvement of the state of democracy in Poland in 2024 in the scope of rights, the rule of law and national team.
“Still in 2022, Poland was below the European average in all four categories. Now we have a definite growth, but this improvement does not place the country at the same level or higher than the average in Europe. And this is, I think, it is important, because it shows how much a burst took place in 2015, and how difficult it is to make up for this loss,” Gardapkhada noted.
The expert, when asked about the details, drew attention to “improving the effectiveness of the Polish parliament” and “predicting law enforcement”, i.e. a situation where a citizen knows what to expect from specific institutions when it comes to the exercise of his rights. Another category that has improved last year in Poland is civic freedoms.
“However, Poland noted the greatest success in the case of freedom of the press. It advanced from medium to high level” Gardapkhada pointed out. “This issue was definitely influenced by the release of public media,” she explained.
The International Idea representative Among the issues negatively affecting the final result of Poland, she mentioned, among others Independence of the judiciary, equality rights, i.e. sexual minorities and abortion law.
According to the report in the world, the quality of the fight against corruption is improved for the third year in a row. “However, it should be remembered that these indicators are at a very low level,” Gardapkhadze pointed out.
This year's edition of the report has been enriched with a part dedicated to the vote of citizens in exile. Currently, 304 million people in the world live outside the country of birth – it is twice as much as in 1990 – due to the increase in migration, this will be one of the important issues in the future to be prepared now. Poland is quite good in this matter. It is one of the leading countries when it comes to equal and available electoral rights, and this also “pulls” democratic indexes in Poland up – the interlocutor emphasized.
Gardapkhada, when asked about the future of democracy in the world, expressed the opinion that one should not think only pessimistically about the possibility of popularizing the system in China. – “We are indeed at the time of historical tectonic changes in the image of what we got used to understanding as democracy. Perhaps it will no longer be the dominant Western model, on the basis of which we built an international structure, but the model of smaller Asian, African or Latin American countries” – she noted.
