Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Global watchdog blames Trump for declining U.S. democracy

American democratic norms are facing an attack unprecedented in modern times as a result of President Trump's actions, the global democracy watchdog Freedom House says in its annual assessment of freedom around the world.

The group's president, Michael Abramowitz, uses the report to accuse Trump of undermining such pillars of American democracy as the separation of powers, a free press, an independent judiciary and the legitimacy of elections.


While American democratic values were undermined by President Obama's prosecution of media leaks and President George W. Bush's warrantless collections of telephone records, "there remains little question that President Trump exerts an influence on American politics that is straining our core values and testing the stability of our constitutional system," he wrote. "No president in living memory has shown less respect for its tenets, norms and principles."

Freedom House gets most of its budget from the federal government and since 1973 has been issuing its widely respected ratings of countries as "free," "partly free" or "not free" – based on scores in two dozen categories ranging from press freedoms to fair elections, political pluralism to civil liberties. The new report, out Monday, ranks the United Sates No. 52 on the roster of 87 countries categorized as free. (At the end of the last decade it was No. 31.) The 2019 report says recent "decline in the rule of law" put American democracy "on a level with Greece, Croatia, and Mongolia," and well below such democracies as Germany and Britain.

Last month another watchdog group, Transparency International, said that threats to the American system of checks and balances had dropped the United States out of the top 20 "cleanest" countries on its annual Corruption Perceptions Index.

"The reality is that other countries pay close attention to the conduct of the world's oldest functioning democracy. The continuing deterioration of U.S. norms will hasten the ongoing decline in global democracy. Indeed, it has already done so," Abramowitz wrote in a rare signed essay, included in the report, about the particular challenges to American democracy.

"We cannot take for granted that institutional bulwarks against abuse of power will retain their strength, or that our democracy will endure perpetually," he concluded. "Rarely has the need to defend its rules and norms been more urgent. Congress must perform more scrupulous oversight of the administration than it has to date. The courts must continue to resist pressures on their independence. The media must maintain their vigorous reporting even as they defend their constitutional prerogatives. And citizens, including Americans who are typically reluctant to engage in the public square, must be alert to new infringements on their rights and the rule of law."

Read More

Similarity Hub Shows >700 Instances of Cross-Partisan Common Ground

Two coloured pencils one red and one blue drawing a reef knot on a white paper background.

Getty Images, David Malan

Similarity Hub Shows >700 Instances of Cross-Partisan Common Ground

It is a common refrain to say that Americans need to find common ground across the political spectrum.

Over the past year, AllSides and More Like US found >700 instances of common ground on political topics, revealed in Similarity Hub. It highlights public opinion data from Gallup, Pew Research, YouGov, and many other reputable polling firms.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts

Royal Moroccan Armed Forces service members and U.S. Army Soldiers hold an African Lion banner during a Moroccan F-16 flyover at the closing day of African Lion 2025 (AL25) at Tantan, Morocco, May 23, 2025.

By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Mallett/U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts

WASHINGTON – Both the Trump administration and its critics agree the U.S. risks losing influence in Africa to rivals like China and Russia. But while the administration argues its commercially driven foreign policy will reverse the trend, critics warn that retreating from development and diplomacy could deepen the problem.

Under the Trump administration, the U.S. plans to consolidate embassies, scale back USAID operations, and pivot towards a security and commercial driven approach on the continent. While U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) defense officials insist their core missions within Africa will remain intact, civilian experts and lawmakers argue that abandoning diplomatic and development tools opens the door for strategic competitors to fill the void and fails to take into account what would best benefit African countries.

Keep ReadingShow less