How democracies are now ‘backsliding’ in countries from Russia to the United States

In the mid-1970s, citizens across the world took to the streets to demand democracy from their governments, spurring a wave of democratization that transformed governments from Africa to Asia to Europe. But a concerning trend of democratic “backsliding” has taken place in recent years, writes the author of a new study in Science, as governments gradually shift away from their democratic ideals and slip closer toward authoritarianism.

Read more…