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ysabetwordsmithDEMOCRACY REPORT 2026: Unraveling The Democratic Era?
1. Democracy in the World 2025
* Democracy is back to 1978 levels for the average global citizen. The gains of the “third wave of democratization”, starting 1974 in Portugal, are almost eradicated.
* The level of democracy for the average citizen in Western Europe and North America is at its lowest level in over 50 years, primarily due to ongoing autocratization in the USA.
* The USA loses its long-term status as a liberal democracy – for the first time in over 50 years.
It took them long enough to notice. USA hasn't been a democracy for quite a while. It qualifies both as a plutocracy (rule by the rich) and an oligarchy (rule by the few) as those in power are both wealthy and small in number.
What voters actually want has a near-zero impact on what happens. That is, you can choose who you want to screw you, but you cannot influence politicians to stop screwing you. That's not a democracy. The people you vote into office are supposed to represent your interests. They don't. It's a problem. Specifically, it means that if you want to solve any other problem, you can't really rely on politicians to do their fucking job and fix it. You have to find a lever that is actually connected to something so you can fix it yourself. At this point the government is basically just a parasite, because it isn't even doing the "big things" that smaller groups can't do easily or at all. From road maintenance to making sure people have survival needs met, the rich fucks do not care.
1. Democracy in the World 2025
* Democracy is back to 1978 levels for the average global citizen. The gains of the “third wave of democratization”, starting 1974 in Portugal, are almost eradicated.
* The level of democracy for the average citizen in Western Europe and North America is at its lowest level in over 50 years, primarily due to ongoing autocratization in the USA.
* The USA loses its long-term status as a liberal democracy – for the first time in over 50 years.
It took them long enough to notice. USA hasn't been a democracy for quite a while. It qualifies both as a plutocracy (rule by the rich) and an oligarchy (rule by the few) as those in power are both wealthy and small in number.
What voters actually want has a near-zero impact on what happens. That is, you can choose who you want to screw you, but you cannot influence politicians to stop screwing you. That's not a democracy. The people you vote into office are supposed to represent your interests. They don't. It's a problem. Specifically, it means that if you want to solve any other problem, you can't really rely on politicians to do their fucking job and fix it. You have to find a lever that is actually connected to something so you can fix it yourself. At this point the government is basically just a parasite, because it isn't even doing the "big things" that smaller groups can't do easily or at all. From road maintenance to making sure people have survival needs met, the rich fucks do not care.
