Blog
How Democracy Works — and Why It's Under Threat
Four major democracy indices, V-Dem, Freedom House, the EIU and International IDEA, have reported global decline for years, though the EIU's 2025 edition found scores stabilising. V-Dem counts 92 autocracies and 87 democracies at the end of 2025. What democracy requires, how the indices measure it, where they disagree, and how democracies erode.