Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Is Ukraine a democracy?

Flag of Ukraine alongside flag of United States

The flag of Ukraine stands alongside the American flag at a meeting between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

As Russian military forces enter Ukraine, Western nations are taking steps to “defend democracy” from an authoritarian regime.

But what exactly are the United States, Germany and other Western powers trying to protect? According to leading analysts of global democracy, Ukraine’s government does not measure up as a healthy democracy. Of course, that is not a justification for abandoning a sovereign nation.

After all, the United States does not earn top marks either.


“The American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost,” President Biden said recently, regarding the United States’ role in protecting Ukraine.

However, the Economist Intelligence Unit, which recently released its 2021 Democracy Index, doesn’t even consider Ukraine either a full or flawed democracy. Rather, Ukraine falls into the “hybrid regime” bucket, tied for 86th place with Mexico in the democracy rankings. ( The United States ranks 26th, making it a “flawed democracy.”)

Ukraine ranks 17th in Eastern Europe, five spots ahead of Russia but with a significant gap in their scores.

Ukraine is a republic, with a president chosen by popular election, a prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by the legislature, a unicameral legislature that’s a mix of single-seat and proportional representation, and a Supreme Court that is appointed by the president.

While Ukraine performs very well in regard to its electoral process, according to the EIU, its overall score is dragged down by a poorly functioning government — which the researchers tied to the looming Russian threat.

“Government functioning under a direct military threat usually restricts democratic processes in favour of the centralisation of power in the hands of the executive and the security or military apparatus with the aim of guaranteeing public safety,” the report states. “In Ukraine, the military played a more prominent role in 2021 and exerted more influence over political decision-making; government policy also became less transparent.”

Similarly, Transparency International, which annually ranks 180 countries based on perceived corruption, gives Ukraine poor marks. The latest version of the Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Ukraine 122nd, with a score of 32 out 100 (where a lower score indicates more public-sector corruption).

The United States, by comparison, performs better but f ell out of the top 25 this year with a score of 67.

Transparency International combines Eastern Europe and Central Asia into one region — the second lowest, on average, in the CPI.

“In Central Asia, many political leaders used COVID-19 as a smokescreen to introduce new restrictions on rights and accountability during the last year, while populist governments in Eastern Europe have severely cracked down on the freedoms of expression and assembly needed to call out corruption,” according to the CPI researchers. “Across the region, authoritarian regimes spied on, intimidated and attacked activists, journalists, opposition leaders and ordinary citizens.”

A third organization, Freedom House, is expected to release its annual “Freedom in the World” report this week. Last year, Freedom House considered Ukraine “partly free,” earning a score of 60 out of 100 (down 2 points from the previous year). The country’s total was dragged down by the political influence of Russia and Ukrainian oligarchs, rampant corruption, a severe lack of transparency, and restrictions on civil liberties.

( The United States was considered a “free” country, with a score of 83 out 100 in the 2021 report, although that total continued a decade-long decline.)

Read More

Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump As Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica

Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump As Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals

Veterans hospitals are struggling to replace hundreds of doctors and nurses who have left the health care system this year as the Trump administration pursues its pledge to simultaneously slash Department of Veterans Affairs staff and improve care.

Many job applicants are turning down offers, worried that the positions are not stable and uneasy with the overall direction of the agency, according to internal documents examined by ProPublica. The records show nearly 4 in 10 of the roughly 2,000 doctors offered jobs from January through March of this year turned them down. That is quadruple the rate of doctors rejecting offers during the same time period last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Is Trump Normalizing Military Occupation of American Cities?
Protesters confront California National Guard soldiers and police outside of a federal building as protests continue in Los Angeles following three days of clashes with police after a series of immigration raids on June 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Getty Images, David McNew

Is Trump Normalizing Military Occupation of American Cities?

President Trump’s military interventions in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., foretell his plan for other cities.

The Washington Post recently reported on the Pentagon’s plans for a “quick reaction force” to deploy amid civil unrest. And, broad mobilization of the military on U.S. soil could happen under the Insurrection Act, which Trump has flirted with invoking. That rarely used Act allows troops to arrest and use force against civilians, which is otherwise prohibited by longstanding law and tradition.

Keep ReadingShow less
Celebrating National Black Business Month

National Black Business Month is about correcting an imbalance and recognizing that supporting Black-owned businesses is suitable for everyone.

Getty Images, Tara Moore

Celebrating National Black Business Month

Every August, National Black Business Month rolls around, and for a few weeks, social media lights up with hashtags and well-meaning posts about supporting Black-owned businesses. You'll see lists pop up—restaurants, bookstores, clothing lines—all run by Black entrepreneurs. Maybe your favorite coffee shop puts up a sign, or a big brand launches a campaign. But once the month ends, the noise fades, and for many, it's back to business as usual.

This cycle is familiar. It's easy to mistake visibility for progress or to think that a single purchase is enough. But National Black Business Month is meant to be more than a fleeting moment of recognition. It's a moment to interrogate the systems that got us here and to put our money—and our intent—where our mouths are. In a better world, Black business success would be a given, not a cause for annual celebration.

Keep ReadingShow less