US Democracy Plummets in Global Rankings

0:00I'm Cory with the story, and this is Your Pulse of the City, Anchorage News Today. Three major reports released this month warn that American democracy has taken a serious hit since President Trump returned to the White House with. Change is happening at an unusually fast pace. The Viedem Institute in Sweden dropped the United States from 20th to 51st out of 179 countries, placing it between. Slovakia and Greece, meanwhile, Bright Line Watch, based on surveys of over 500 scholars, rates the system as nearly halfway between a liberal democracy and a dictatorship. Freedom House also flagged the biggest declines in political rights and civil liberties among free nations last year. Experts blame moves like concentrating executive power, side-stepping Congress, and targeting the media and free speech. The White House dismissed these findings as vies from irrelevant groups, calling Trump the most transparent president and a defender of freedom. Scholars note this rollback happened in just one year, faster than similar shifts under

1:03leaders like India's Narendra Modi or Hungary's Viktor Orban, both of whom Trump has praised. Courts have pushed back on some actions, like recent terror rulings, slowing the slide. While the damage alarms many, it's not seen as permanent, with midterms and future elections offering checks. Overseas, the administration's reluctance to call out election issues abroad, including support for Orban's reelection bid, is a roading America's role, as a global democracy leader.