Final answer:
The decline in democracy and individual liberty as reported by the 2021 World Freedom Report from Freedom House indicates a global trend affecting both large and small democracies, leading to public disenchantment and a potential shift towards authoritarianism.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Freedom House's 2021 World Freedom Report, there has been a consistent decline in individual liberty and democracy globally for 15 consecutive years. This downward trend has been evident even in the world's largest democracies, like the United States and India. The report highlights various facets of democratic distress, such as voter turnout and intimidation, which have led to widespread mistrust in governments, potentially paving the way for more authoritarian regimes. In countries like Guatemala, surveys by Latinobarometro reveal that a significant portion of the population believes their rights, including freedom of speech, are not adequately protected. The report also maps the world's countries according to their level of freedom, using color coding to denote varying degrees of democracy.
Public disenchantment with governments is a global issue, affecting countries across different continents, including Mexico, Spain, Greece, and Brazil, where majorities believe their democracies are underperforming. The European Union (EU) has been facing challenges of democratic backsliding within its member states, notably Poland and Hungary. Counterbalancing these troubling trends, there have been examples of progressive and stable governments emerging in Africa, indicating some hope for democratic advancements.
The economic freedom has seen an overall positive trend, with more countries improving over the past few decades despite some nations experiencing a decline. These trends are synthesized from estimates that, despite their imperfections, serve as a useful gauge for understanding global movements in freedom and democracy.