Freedom House 2023 Report: 50 Years for Liberty and Representative Government

Freedom House issued its 2023 Report, its fiftieth anniversary report: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy | Freedom House https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2023/marking-50-years. Although there is much more freedom around the world than a half-century ago, the report finds that global freedom declined for the 17th straight year. Most States around the world are not free. There were declines in freedom particularly in some African and Latin American States, where coups and coup attempts have become common. But there were increases in liberty in nearly as many States than declines, which was the narrowest deficit in 18 years, perhaps marking a turning point. Lesotho and Colombia notably became fully free. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has led to gross human rights violations, but aggression, as well as the typical corruption of authoritarian States, as opposed to competence, has created a contrast with free States, whose solidarity against aggression was encouraging for the cause of freedom. The erosion of liberty and representative government by elected governments continues to be a factor in the decline of freedom globally. Assaults on the freedom of expression and on the independence of the judiciary have been typical methods of elected leaders who become authoritarians. By contrast, free elections and respect for judicial independence have led to more freedom in other States.