☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

The Graphic Truth: COVID hurts democracy, no matter response

February 11, 2021
Carlos Santamaria
and
Ari Winkleman
The Graphic Truth: COVID hurts democracy, no matter response
Ari Winkleman

The strength of global democracy was tested by the coronavirus in 2020 — and COVID mostly won. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Democracy Index fell last year by an average 0.07 points, the biggest drop since the annual ranking was first compiled in 2006. Government-imposed restrictions on individual freedoms and civil liberties due to the pandemic are partly responsible for the decline, and this is true for a majority of countries regardless of how well they managed the pandemic. We take a look at how democracy performed in 2020 in the 10 countries that handled the pandemic best and in the 10 with the worst responses, as measured by the Lowy Institute.

From Your Site Articles

More from GZERO Media

South Korea: Guy who replaced the impeached guy to face impeachment

Han Duck-soo, now the acting South Korean prime minister, gives a speech during the opening ceremony of the AI Global Forum in Seoul, South Korea, on May 22, 2024.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo

This story just gets wilder by the day. Barely two weeks since President Yoon Suk Yeol was stripped of his duties for attempting a coup, the opposition has moved to impeach his successor, Yoon’s fellow People Party member Han Duck-soo.

Russia’s boats and “birds” behaving badly

A view shows the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane at the crash site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 25, 2024.
site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 25, 2024. Administration

Finnish authorities on Thursday seized a Russian oil tanker suspected of sabotaging an undersea electricity cable linking Finland and Estonia earlier this week.

10 elections to watch in 2025

This time last year, we had you buckle up for the world’s most intense year of democracy in action, with more than 65 countries holding elections involving at least 4.2 billion people. As we now know, many of those voters turned against incumbents in 2024 — from the United Kingdom and the United States to Botswana, Japan, and South Korea, just to name a handful. Now, we’re spotlighting the 10 most consequential elections of 2025.

Opinion: Roll over and play Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and Conan, the U.S. military dog that participated in and was injured in the U.S. raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while standing with the dog's military handler on the colonnade of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 25, 2019.
REUTERS/Tom Brenner

While the second season will not officially launch until Jan. 20, 2025, the Donald Trump show has already come to town.

Hard Numbers: Matt Gaetz loved drugs and sex in Congress, Biden commutes death sentences, A deadly year for journalists, Italy’s magnificent mosaics shine again

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) nominates former President Donald Trump for Speaker of the House as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) watch inside the House Chamber on the third day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 5, 2023.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

North Korea preparing to send more troops to Russia as casualties rise, says Seoul

Ukrainian Armed Forces are deployed in the middle of the conflict with Russia on December 16, 2024. Ukraine claims that Russia has begun sending North Korean soldiers en masse to assaults in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces repel daily Russian attacks and control important areas.
Handout / Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect

South Korean military officials said Monday that they had detected North Korean preparations to deploy more troops and weapons to Russia, and elaborated that at least 100 of Pyongyang’s soldiers had been killed and 1,000 more wounded so far, while Ukrainians claim 200 have died and nearly 3,000 had been wounded.

Head in the Sand: Post-election research shows that Democrats' have a weakness issue

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at an event for young leaders at Prince George’s County Community College in Largo, Maryland on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Pool/Sipa USA

For the Democrats, 2024 was the year of the ostrich, or the koala, according to lapsed-Democratic voters asked to describe the party as an animal in post-election research.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2020 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.