The United States loses its status as a liberal democracy: Trump is aiming for a dictatorship'

"Almost a quarter of the world experienced democratic backsliding, or a shift towards autocratization, in 2025, and six of the 10 newly regressive countries identified in the research are located in Europe and North America, including G-7 powers such as Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States."

"The most unsettling conclusion reached by the Swedish institute is that the United States once a proud beacon of the more or less free world is no longer a liberal democracy and is now on a par with countries like Hungary or Turkey, thanks to President Donald Trump."

"According to V-Dem, the U.S. is hurtling toward autocracy at a faster pace than Viktor Orban's Hungary or Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey (in all three cases, and in that of another self-proclaimed autocrat, Russia's Vladimir Putin, it is a drift toward personalism, with strong, or alpha, leaders who impose themselves on and colonize the system, starting with Trump himself)."

"Our data on the United States goes back to 1789. What we are seeing now is the greatest democratic backsliding the country has ever seen, says Staffan Lindberg, founder of the institute."

The V-Dem Institute's 2025 annual report documents significant democratic erosion globally, with 41% of the world's population living in countries experiencing democratic decline. Six of ten newly regressive countries are in Europe and North America, including G-7 nations Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The institute, using 48 evaluation metrics, concludes the U.S. has transitioned from a liberal democracy to a status equivalent to Hungary and Turkey, characterized by personalist autocracy under Trump. Similar patterns emerge in India under Modi and other nations led by strong authoritarian figures. The U.S. is experiencing its greatest democratic backsliding since 1789, according to institute founder Staffan Lindberg.

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