Autocracies get more repressive when opening up their economies – a political scientists explores why

Democracy doesn't always follow economic liberalization. Owen Franken/Corbis via Getty Images The current state of democracy in the world is fragile. According to the V-Dem Project, which measures global democracy, 41% of the world’s population live in autocratizing countries — that is, those becoming more authoritarian. In fact, a “third wave of autocratization” has seen democracy pushed back to levels not seen since 1978, the authors of the 2026 V-Dem report conclude. Worse, many of the 92…