State of U.S. democracy reaches new low, report finds

The U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. A new report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance finds U.S. democracy at 50-year low. Allison Robbert/AP hide caption toggle caption Allison Robbert/AP U.S. democracy has reached its lowest levels in 50 years, according to a new global report that tracks democratic performance around the world. For several years, Dr. Seema Shah, who heads the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance's democracy assessment team, said their researchers have observed a global pattern of democratic decline: "Severe drops in scores that measure freedom of expression, freedom of the press, credible elections, effective parliament," she said. Shah says that in the 50 years of compiling this survey, she's seen undemocratic trends like this correcting themselves. But not this time. "It's getting worse and worse," Shah says. "So that's really worrying, especially because we also see that people are more willing in some cases to consider non-democratic leadership or non-democratic governance." The organization's annual Global State of Democracy report, which tracks democratic performance across 174 cou...