The Global State of Democracy 2019

                 This post is the summary of the book published with the incomplete title above in November 2019 at https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/the-global-state-of-democracy-2019.pdf

                    Democracy is ill and its promise needs revival. While the idea of democracy continues to mobilize people around the world, the practice of existing democracies has disappointed and disillusioned many citizens and democracy advocates. Democratic erosion is occurring in different settings and contexts. New democracies are often weak and fragile. Older democracies are struggling to guarantee equitable and sustainable economic and social development. The rise of populist politics is linked to a variety of context-specific factors, but some common drivers include a disenchantment with traditional political actors; the perceived inability of political systems to address core societal and economic problems; and a clash between expectations of what democracy should provide. Populists tap into citizen discontent about rising inequalities, corruption, increasing mass migration, unemployment, and increased digitalization and its impact on labour markets. At the same time, a number of large countries with political and economic clout seem immune to democracy. These political regimes not only persist as non-democracies (e.g. China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia), but have also begun to export their model of governance. Despite this gloomy picture, there are also reasons for optimism. Democratic transitions continue to occur in regimes that seemed staunchly undemocratic or stuck in the hybrid grey zone between democracy and non-democracy. Examples include: Gambia, Ethiopia, Armenia and Malaysia. Popular demands for democratic reforms backed by intense social mobilization have been witnessed across the world in places such as Algeria, Hong Kong, Russia and Sudan. New democracies such as Timor-Leste and Tunisia have also consolidated their democratic gains. The data shows that democracies are more likely to create the conditions for sustainable development. Levels of gender equality are higher in democracies, access to political power is more equal, and there is less corruption. The world needs more and better democracy, to revive the democratic promise. A total of 10 countries are currently experiencing democratic backsliding. The most severe cases are Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Venezuela represents the most severe democratic backsliding case in the past four decades. Latin America is the third-most democratic region in the world, after North America and Europe, with all but three countries classified as democracies. Democracies in the region have proven resilient. Latin America has a heterogenous democratic landscape. The best performing aspects of Latin American democracy compared to the rest of the world are Electoral Participation and Freedom of Religion. Latin America and the Caribbean ((LAC) is the region  with most advances in political gender equality in the past decades. Together with Europe, the region has the highest representation of women in parliament, averaging 27% which is above the world average of 24%. Cuba is the only country in the region not to have undergone a democratic transition since 1975 and to have persisted as a non-democratic regime for the past four decades. Political parties in LAC are suffering from a crisis of representation. This crisis derives from their difficulty in adapting to societal transformation and increasing expectations of a population deceived by lack of delivery in reducing corruption and inequalities. In order to continue to advance democratically, LAC need to tackle the societal problems they face, reduce corruption and reinvigorate their political party systems. While the large majority of countries in the region have undergone democratic transition and consolidation in the past decades, two countries stand out from that pattern. Nicaragua and Venezuela are among ten countries in the world that have suffered from severe democratic backsliding. Brazil, while still performing in the high range on representative government, had the highest number of subattribute declines in the region between 2013 and 2018. Bolsonaro's election has been seen as a protest against traditional parties and their perceived inability to stave off corruption, reduce social inequalities, reduce crime and violence, and revive an ailing economy. As in other regions in the world, social media is contributing to a profound change in electoral dynamics. Information and communication tech now play an important role as political tools across the political spectrum, and the dissemination of political messages through social media has been a frequent feature in recent elections. In LAC, the current election cycle reveals increasing levels of political polarization, as well as the depth of frustation with political elites and the 'old style of politics'. These developments suggest that the deeper malaise appears to be with politics as it is practised, rather than with the idea of democracy itself. Recent elections of presidential candidates often described by the media as anti-establishment, including Andrés Lopez Labrador in Mexico and Bolsonaro in Brazil, have largely been driven by a sense of civic anger, often directed at corrupt elites, along with a quest to find a political redeemer. However, it is unclear if the region's newly elected leaders will be able to combat its continuing high levels of corruption or whether they will go down the same path as their predecessors who failed in this task. The judiciary is generally perceived as one of the most problematic branches of the state in LAC and remain weak in many countries. Weak judicial capacity affects the ability of countries to adequately combat corruption, crime and violence. Despite democratic advances, levels of corruption remain high in a number of countries in LAC. This constitutes a serious impediment to strengthening the quality of democracy in the region. After the Middle East and Africa, LAC has the largest share of democracies with high levels of corruption. Efforts to fight corruption in the region have often faced resistance from those with political power. This resistance stems from the fact that corruption in a number of countries is deeply embedded within the political structure. Corruption can undermine democracy as high levels of corruption have been shown to reduce citizens trust in democracy. Public funding of political parties, although constructive, has not been the panacea many had expected. In addition, laws regarding limits on campaign have been difficult to impose. The role of illicit funding sources remains a critical problem, particularly at the local level. In Colombia, for instance, about one-third of the legislators in the congress in  were allegedly linked to paramilitary squads. Similar to other regions, LAC has also seen a recent increase in violence against journalists and activists fighting to protect human rights. Along with the concentration of news media, studies have detected large numbers of 'news deserts'  or towns without local news coverage. In Brazil, more than half of all municipalities have no local news outlets. 64 million Brazilians are deprived of adequate news coverage, and therefore impoverished in terms of the quality of democratic debate. The political empowerment of the middle classes is crucial for democracy. Middle classes have demanding effective solutions to the societal challenges affecting the region. Access to justice is the aspect on which LAC performs the poorest compared to the rest of the world. It is urgent to strength the capacity, autonomy, accountability and transparency of the judiciary. Only two countries, Jamaica e Uruguay, have high levels of judicial independence. LAC is the region in the world with the largest share of countries with both high levels of representative government and high levels of corruption. The fight against corruption requires strong political will, intolerance of impunity and a political impartial and integrated approach. Promoting a culture of integrity must become a core priority for all level of government. This requires the input of multiple state institutions at all levels, as well as the private sector and civil society. Their strategies must combine efforts to identify and minimize corruption risks, prevent and sanction corruption, improve technical capacity to investigate and reward integrity. Modernizing the state and strengthening the capacity of a merit-based civil service and public administration and the implementation of open and transparency strategies are also key to the fight against corruption.