The United States’ democratic performance has fallen to its lowest level in five decades, according to a global assessment released Tuesday that points to growing executive power, weakened checks and balances and declining confidence in democratic institutions. The annual Global State of Democracy report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance examined 174 countries, using data collected from 1975 through 2025. Its latest findings compare democratic performance from 2020 to 2025. The report identifies the United States as the most prominent example of democratic decline. It says President Donald Trump rapidly expanded the power of the executive branch in 2025 and used it to pursue personal objectives and retaliate against perceived opponents. The report concludes that those actions weakened the rule of law at home and abroad while testing longstanding alliances and international cooperation. Seema Shah, who leads the organization’s democracy assessment team, said researchers recorded declines in nearly half of the 30 indicators they measure in the United States. Those indicators include freedom of expression, press freedom, credible elections, parliamentary effectiveness, judicial independence and the rule of law. “Severe drops” in several of those measures are occurring across the world, Shah said, adding that democratic deterioration has continued rather than correcting itself as it has in some previous periods. The report says the United States historically performed strongly on the rule of law and judicial independence and played a major role in promoting democratic governance internationally. Shah said that standing has changed as U.S. policy has moved away from making democracy a central foreign-policy priority and as programs supporting democratic institutions in developing countries have been dismantled. Trump has argued that earlier U.S. administrations were too interventionist. At a 2025 summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he said the United States would stop giving other nations “lectures on how to live.” The shift matters beyond Washington. Shah said policies from the U.S. administration are harming democratic institutions domestically while weakening global norms and giving authoritarian leaders an example they can use to justify their own actions. The broader findings show that the United States is part of a worldwide pattern. Fifty-seven percent of countries in the assessment experienced a decline in at least one major measure of democratic performance. The rule of law was the weakest-performing area globally. The report also offers a caution for countries that appear to recover after a period of democratic decline. Shah said that in 90% of cases where a democracy improves after backsliding, it suffers another decline within five years. For communities across the United States, the findings connect national political decisions to everyday democratic protections, including access to reliable information, the independence of courts, the credibility of elections and the ability of elected institutions to hold executive officials accountable.