section_path: Indicators/V-Dem
section_name: V-Dem
paragraph_text: V-Dem
  
  The V-Dem Democracy indices show significant declines from 2016 to 2020. In March 2025, its director said the US was on track to lose its democracy status in six months. V-Dem has measures on democracy starting in 1789, providing rare historical data to compare backsliding events, though comparing across centuries has challenges. V-Dem also scores political parties in an annual illiberalism score, and ranked the Republican Party more similar to authoritarian parties than typical center-right governing parties.