SENEGAL HAS long been considered one of Africa's most stable democracies. The west African state has had three peaceful transitions of power since independence, including one in 1980 when Léopold Sédar Senghor became the first modern African leader to hand over power voluntarily. But the country’s reputation as a model of democracy in the region is in peril. Violent protests erupted in Dakar last week after Ousmane Sonko, a leading opposition figure, was arrested for rape. Mr Sonko and his supporters say the charges are part of a plot orchestrated by Macky Sall, Senegal’s president, to end the career of a political rival. At least eight people have been killed amid the unrest.
Senegal’s flirtation with authoritarianism is part of a global trend, according to Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World” report, an annual assessment of the state of democracy worldwide. For its latest appraisal, the think-tank convened around 165 experts to pore over a questionnaire about political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries and 15 territories. Each country was given a score from 0 to 100 and classified as “free”, “partly free” or “not free”. The results show that the world has suffered its 15th consecutive year of democratic decline. In February an annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, reached a similar conclusion.
Why is democracy in retreat? The rise of authoritarian leaders is partly to blame, as autocrats use the pandemic as cover to crack down on street rallies and online spaces. Belarus emerged as a bright spot in August when citizens rose up to dispute the outcome of the presidential election, which showed Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s ruler since 1994, winning 80% of the vote. But after months of protests demanding his resignation, Mr Lukashenko remains president. Indeed, freedoms are even more restricted: anti-government protests have given law enforcement a pretext to arrest and prosecute critics of the regime. In May, an ambulance paramedic was detained for seven days for criticising the country’s covid-19 response in a YouTube livestream. Other countries have faced similar crackdowns after citizens took to the streets. Of the 39 countries and territories where Freedom House noted major protests in 2019, 23 had a lower freedom score the following year.
Even some of the world’s most durable democracies are struggling. America is classified by Freedom House as “free” but is no longer near the top of the class. Since 2016 the country has dropped 6 points. The report argues that the fact that Donald Trump’s calls to overturn November’s presidential election in America went “unchecked by most lawmakers from his own party” undermined basic democratic principles. India, the world’s most populous democracy, was downgraded from “free” to “partly free”. Under Narendra Modi, the prime minister, the country has elevated “narrow Hindu-nationalist interests” at the expense of “equal rights for all”, the report says.
After 15 years of decline, there is little sign that democracy is on the mend. On March 9th Senegal’s opposition called for more peaceful protests across the country, as well as a day of mourning to honour those killed in the demonstrations. Tensions remain high. Senegal retained its “partly free” status this year. Its standing next year may be decided in the coming days.