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A report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) released on September 15 indicates that declining democratic indicators in the United States, such as press freedom and judicial independence, have reached their lowest point in 50 years. This deterioration is reportedly inspiring hardline leaders globally and weakening multilateralism. The report highlights that about 57 percent of countries studied experienced a decline in at least one aspect of democracy between 2020 and 2025, with specific instances like the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol influencing similar protests abroad, such as riots in Brazil led by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Claims extracted
13
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 13 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject
Correction & hedging signals
58.7
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Story summary
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), based in Stockholm, released a report on September 15 indicating that key US democracy indicators such as press freedom and judicial independence have reached their lowest levels in 50 years. IDEA's secretary-general Kevin Casas-Zamora attributed the global impact of this decline to former President Donald Trump’s actions and refusal to accept his election loss, which has emboldened authoritarian leaders worldwide. The report found that 57% of countries studied experienced a decrease in at least one aspect of their democratic health between 2020 and 2025, highlighting a broader trend of declining democracy.
Written for “Decline of Us Democracy” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score -0.50 for article 10264 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-15
Declining US democracy emboldens global authoritarians:
asserted
democracy → decline → authoritarians
The fall of US democracy indicators to their lowest level in half a century is inspiring hardline leaders around the world, a leading global intergovernmental political institute said on Sept 15.
asserted
institute → inspire → Sept
“Major indicators of US democracy from press freedom to judicial independence hit their lowest levels in 50 years, and this is reverberating worldwide,” the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said in a report.
asserted
Institute → hit → report
“Washington’s retreat from the rules-based international order has weakened confidence in multilateralism and emboldened authoritarian leaders and populists,” added the report.
asserted
report → base → leaders
About 57 per cent of the countries studied by International IDEA had seen a fall in at least one indicator of their democratic health between 2020 and 2025.
asserted
cent → study → 2020
The areas assessed included judicial independence, credible elections, freedom of speech and access to justice.
asserted
areas → assess → justice
“Of course, patient zero of this global epidemic is the current president of the United States,” International IDEA secretary-general Kevin Casas-Zamora, a former vice-president of Costa Rica, told AFP, referring to US President Donald Trump.
“I think what happened in the US in 2020 has really had a global impact in terms of legitimising this kind of attack on the credibility of the electoral process,” he said of Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
asserted
he → tell → Biden
Trump returned to office after a 2024 election.
asserted
Trump → return → election
The trend accelerated with the attack on the US Congress building on Jan 6, 2021, by Trump supporters, Casas-Zamora added.
asserted
Zamora → accelerate → supporters
This encouraged riots in Brasilia on Jan 8, 2023, when thousands of followers of conservative former leader Jair Bolsonaro looted Brazil’s Parliament demanding a military intervention against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a week after he took office.
asserted
he → encourage → office
The IDEA chief said that “arguments that were used to gut and eventually close down USAID (the US foreign aid agency) were used in Serbia by the government to clamp down on civil society organisations”.
asserted
that → say → organisations
International IDEA was set up by 14 founding states in 1995 to help with elections and monitor democracies.
asserted
IDEA → set → democracies
The US had been an observer member but left in 2026.
asserted
US → leave → 2026
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