Democratic transition

[14][15][16] Democratic backsliding[a] or autocratization is a process of regime change toward autocracy in which the exercise of political power becomes more arbitrary and repressive.

Proposed causes of democratic backsliding include economic inequality, rampant culture wars, culturally conservative reactions to societal changes, populist or personalist politics, and external influence from great power politics.

During crises, backsliding can occur when leaders impose autocratic rules during states of emergency that are either disproportionate to the severity of the crisis or remain in place after the situation has improved.

[37][38] Whether and to what extent democratization occurs can be influenced by various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, civil society, and international processes.

[73] The qualitative nature of democracy indices enables data analytical approaches for studying causal mechanisms of regime transformation processes.

Since c. 2010 , the number of countries autocratizing (blue) is higher than those democratizing (yellow).
Countries autocratizing (red) or democratizing (blue) substantially and significantly (2010–2020), according to V-Dem Institute . Countries in grey are substantially unchanged. [ 17 ]
Map showing democratization of countries after the Cold War
Countries by date of independence
Global trend report Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2022 [ 70 ]