State of the world 2017: autocratization and exclusion?

ABSTRACT
This article presents evidence of a global trend of autocratization. The most visible
feature of democracy– elections– remains strong and is even improving in some
places. Autocratization mainly affects non-electoral aspects of democracy such as
media freedom, freedom of expression, and the rule of law, yet these in turn
threaten to undermine the meaningfulness of elections. While the majority of the
world’s population lives under democratic rule, 2.5 billion people were subjected to
autocratization in 2017. Last year, democratic qualities were in decline in 24
countries across the world, many of which are populous such as India and the
United States. This article also presents evidence testifying that men and wealthy
groups tend to have a strong hold on political power in countries where 86% of the
world population reside. Further, we show that political exclusion based on socio
economic status in particular is becoming increasingly severe. For instance, the
wealthy have gained significantly more power in countries home to 1.9 billion of the
world’s population over the past decade