The V-Dem Institute is an independent research institute based at the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
V-Dem is short for "Varieties of Democracy."
The V-Dem Institute is the governing body of the V-Dem Research Project which collects and curates data regarding the state of democracy worldwide. The V-Dem Database measures 600+ indicators annually from 1789 to the present for all countries of the world. The collected and curated data is then presented in various forms, one of which is the annual V-Dem Institute Democracy Report.
The V-Dem Research Project takes a comprehensive approach to understanding democratization, encompassing core electoral, liberal, majoritarian, consensual, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian principles. Each principle is broken down into its components, including features such as free and fair elections, civil liberties, judicial independence, executive constraints, gender equality, media freedom, and civil society.
The V-Dem Research Project consists of five Principal Investigators, 23 Project Managers, 33 Regional Managers, 134 Country Coordinators, and more than 4200 Country Experts, making it one of the world's largest social science data collection projects on democracy.
Source:
"The V-Dem Institute". V-Dem Institute. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
"The V-Dem Project". V-Dem Project. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
Chapter 5 of the 52-page V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 entitled "In Focus: Autocratization in the USA" states that "Democracy in the USA is now at its Worst in 60 Years."
That chapter also makes the following key points:
- Under Trump's presidency, the level of democracy in the USA has fallen back to the same level as in 1965.
- Yet the situation is fundamentally different than during the Civil Rights era. In 2025, the derailment of democracy is marked by executive overreach undermining the rule of law, along with far-reaching suppression and intimidation of media and dissenting voices.
- The speed with which American democracy is currently dismantled is unprecedented in modern history.
- Legislative Constraints – the worst affected aspect of democracy – is losing one-third of its value in 2025 and reaching its lowest point in over 100 years.
- Civil Rights and Equality before the Law are also rapidly declining, falling to late 1960s levels.
- Freedom of Expression is now at its lowest level since the end of WWII.
- Electoral components of democracy remain stable. Election-specific indicators are re-assessed only in electoral years, and the 2025 scores are based on the quality of the 2024 elections.
Source:
"V-Dem Institute | DEMOCRACY REPORT 2026 | Unraveling The Democratic Era". V-Dem Institute. Retrieved 2026-03-23.