The year 2007 saw the highest count of liberal (=liberty prioritizing) democracies, 90 in all. Between 2007 and 2020, six countries gained liberal regimes, and fourteen countries saw their liberal systems fall into illiberal status. There has been much more movement within categories:
- A total of 61 countries improved their Freedom House (2021) scores between 2007 and 2020.
- Another 121 countries moved their scores lower. The United States is among these, with slippages starting in 2011 and continuing in most years since then.
Excerpted from America: Republic or Democracy?