Poland up in a global report on democracy. The greatest success – in the case of freedom of the press

The state of democracy has worsened in most countries around the world over the past five years, and the freedom of the press has reached the lowest level in 50 years – according to a global report on democracy. Poland has improved its position, including thanks to the reference of public media.

The study 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 in an interview with PAP 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 worrying greatest decline in the freedom of the press, since we have been conducting these measurements, i.e. for almost 50 years,” Gardapkhadze pointed out. 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.

– In 2022, Poland was below the European average in all four categories. Now we have a definite increasebut this improvement does not place the country at the same level or higher than the average in Europe. And this is, I think, important, because it shows how much a “bump” took place in 2015, and how difficult it is to make up for this loss – Gardapkhada noticed.

The expert, when asked for details, drew attention to “improving the effectiveness of the Polish parliament” and “predicting the enforcement of law”, i.e. a situation when 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. She was promoted from medium to high level – said Gardapkhada. “This issue was definitely influenced by the public media resolution,” 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 voting 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 picture 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 America – she noted.

She added that countries such as Brazil, Spain and Chile are lobbying for the renewal of democracy, and South Korea also made similar attempts. Until 2024, the United States was also active in this topic. The International Idea report does not include the period of the rule of President Donald Trump, who took power on January 20, 2025.

From Stockholm Daniel Zyśk (PAP)

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