Pew Research: The U.S. Is No Longer Rated a Liberal Democracy

Three independent organizations that track democracy worldwide all agree: American democracy declined in 2025. Not gradually. Not marginally. Significantly.

The Varieties of Democracy Institute downgraded the United States from a "liberal democracy" to an "electoral democracy" — its lowest score since 1965. Legislative and judicial constraints on executive power fell to their lowest levels in over 100 years. Freedom House gave the U.S. its lowest score in two decades. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated us a "flawed democracy" for the ninth straight year.

And Americans feel it. 68% — including majorities in both parties — say U.S. democracy used to be a good example for the world to follow, but hasn't been in recent years. 69% say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working right now.

Leading Ladies Vote was built for exactly this moment. Democracy doesn't decline all at once. It erodes — through courts packed with judges who won't acknowledge facts, through wars launched without congressional votes, through systems that protect the powerful and leave everyone else behind. Protecting democracy is on the ballot in November.

🔗 Read the full Pew Research report: Multiple Indicators Show a Decline in the Health of America's Democracy in 2025 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/15/multiple-indicators-show-a-decline-in-the-health-of-americas-democracy-in-2025/