FAS

Democracy in Decline?

10.18.18 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Democracy as a political system has not advanced around the world in the past decade and by some measures it has actually declined, a new report from the Congressional Research Service observes.

The obstacles are not all located abroad. Unlike its predecessors, the Trump Administration does not include democracy promotion as part of its national security strategy, CRS noted. And for the first time last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit categorized the United States as a “flawed democracy.”

See Global Trends in Democracy: Background, U.S. Policy, and Issues for Congress, October 17, 2018.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues, October 16, 2018

The Peace Corps: Current Issues, updated October 12, 2018

NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2019, updated October 15, 2018

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding for FY2019, CRS In Focus, updated October 15, 2018