Rule of law continues five-year decline, but bright spots emerge

Ted Piccone analyses the largely negative global trends regarding the rule of law for the Brookings Institution. The rule of law globally is in decline for the fifth straight year, notably due to growing authoritarian tendencies, such as weakened checks and balances, rising impunity, and declines in fundamental rights. However, Europe is a major exception to this trend, with the region home to nine of the top ten rule of law performers, and over one-half of the index’s top 25 improvers globally since 2015. The top improvers moreover include neighbours to Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. However, the continent also continues to experience challenges in terms of long-term declines in areas such as discrimination, freedom of assembly, and lawful transitions of power, along with the serious issues observed in Hungary and Poland. Elsewhere in the world, India and China continue to decline, while the United States has shown improvements under the Biden Administration. Supporters of the rule of law and democracy will need to work to improve the rule of law at home and step up efforts to improve the situation abroad.

Read the full piece here on the Brookings Institution website.