Democracy Faces Continued Setbacks Worldwide Amid Election Manipulation and Violence

• Democracy faced sharp, widespread setbacks in 2023 with manipulated elections and violence • Ecuador downgraded from free to partly free due to election disruption by criminal groups • Thailand upgraded from not free to partly free due to competitive elections, though establishment prevented progressive party leader from becoming PM
• This is the 18th straight year of global freedom decline with deterioration across all regions • Fiji showed most improvement, gaining 7 points after tense election ousted longtime leader Bainimarama