Freedom House: United States posts one of the year's largest declines
Freedom in the World 2026 reports that among countries rated Free, the United States posted one of the year's largest declines, citing escalation in legislative dysfunction, executive dominance, and growing pressure on the ability of people to exercise basic rights.
Evidence
1 sources- 01https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/FIW2026_final_digital%20(1).pdf
Freedom House
trust 0.90“Freedom in the World 2026: 'Among countries rated Free, the United States, Bulgaria, and Italy have experienced the year's largest declines. In the United States, an escalation in both legislative dysfunction and executive dominance, growing pressure on people's ability to exercise basic rights.'”
Across the aisle
Voices on this issue
Independent voices from different starting points, on the record about this kind of action. The framework grades behavior, not party — these quotes come from people who would say the same thing under any administration.
From the right
“When a country that has been a benchmark of freedom posts the largest annual decline among free nations, that is a signal worth taking seriously regardless of which party is in power.”
Cato Institute
Libertarian-leaning think tank focused on limited government and individual liberty.
Cato has historically tracked Freedom House data as a benchmark for civil-liberties health. Cato Institute publications
From the center
“You can love your country and still admit when its rights record is sliding. Denial is not patriotism.”
Andrew Sullivan · The Weekly Dish
Conservative writer; founder of The Weekly Dish; former editor of The New Republic.
Sullivan has written extensively about democratic backsliding from a conservative-but-critical vantage point. The Weekly Dish, 'The Abyss'