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Russias civil society and judicial framework score less compared to 2016.

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Democracy takes a hit in the former Soviet Union, as authoritarianism grows. Source: Vladimir Astapkovich/RIA Novosti

Russia is one of the least free countries in Eastern Europe, according to experts from Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.

The level of freedom and democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe has declined for the 12th consecutive year, according to the groups annual report. There are now more consolidated authoritarian regimes than consolidated democracies.

The state of democracy deteriorated in 18 out of 29 studied countries. Six countries, on the contrary, improved their performance while five remained in the same positions. The last time such a high number of countries showed such a decline was after the global financial crisis in 2008, the report says.

Freedom House studies six indicators in each country: National democratic governance, electoral progress, civil society, independent media, local democratic governance, judicial framework and independence, and corruption. Each indicator receives a mark from zero (high level of democratic progress) to seven (the lowest level). The scores are added up and then divided to find an average, which is the final mark for each country.

The least free countries of the former socialist block are Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Both received a score of 6.96. The most free is Estonia, with 1.93 points. Russias freedom decreased slightly in the past year, from 6.5 to 6.57. In total, Russia remains 23rd (between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan) out of 29, just like the year before.

According to some Russian media, the report does not explain exactly why Russias position on the rating decreased.However, not only does the report specifically address the reasons for the decline, it also contains a 7,530 word summary detailing the research on Russia alone.

Russias situation worsened regarding two indicators. The first, the Civil Society rating, declined from 6.25 to 6.50. This, according to the authors of the report, is due to the "continuing offensive of the government against NGOs, manifested in the widening number of activities covered by the 'foreign agents' framework." The report also mentioned the large emigration of activists from Russia and the first conviction of an activist under the foreign agents" law.

The Judicial Framework and Independence rating also declined. It went from 6.25 to 6.50 "due to the Constitutional Courts determination that rulings of the European Court of Human Rights could be ignored by Russia, the continued increase in political prisoners in the country, and evidence of the Chechen leaderships direct control over the courts in Chechnya."

In an interview with RBK, Alexei Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs, noted that Moscow has always been sceptical about these reports. He claimed that conclusions from the report of Freedom House should be considered "relative" and you can trust them, but with caution.

Aside from its findings in Russia specifically, the reportfocused mainly on the number of countries that show a decline in democracy scores. For the first time since the study started in 1995, there are now more consolidated authoritarian regimes than consolidated democracies. In Eurasia, personalist authoritarianism has gone from a burgeoning trend to an entrenched norm, the study reads.

Another key finding of the report is that Hungary now has the lowest ranking in the Central European region. Polands score reached its lowest point in the survey. According to Freedom house, this is because populist leaders have attacked constitutional courts, undermined checks and balances, and have turned public media into propaganda arms.

All in all, the report shows few bright spots. The last key finding, however, shows some hope. Ukraine and Kosovo gained some points due to structural reforms. Also, Romania has been addressing a number of outstanding issues, such as problems in the voting process during the previous elections.

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Posted: Apr 04, 2017 12:01 AM

The boos he heard from the audience, he said afterward, were merely "what freedom sounds like."

His response was appropriate because freedom is kind of messy, especially in a nation with such a broad range of religious, gender and political viewpoints that often collide on a minute-by-minute basis.

We Americans are very parochial beings. From our political points of view to our religious traditions and our community pride, we decide what tribe we belong to and protect it when we feel it is threatened.

Democracy is also messy. So is governing -- something President Donald J. Trump should have pointed out frequently as he worked with Congress to reform America's health care system.

The battle for ultimate control of the bill was always going to be tribal: Republicans were split between the "Hell no" crowd (the House Freedom Caucus) and the moderates, while Democrats were unwilling to even look at any proposal.

A presidential statement such as: "Hey, America. This is what democracy looks like, not marching in the streets just to march but doing the hard work of negotiating with Congress. And, by the way, this is part of what makes us great" would have been a great reminder that, yes, governing is hard, but this is what you sent him to Washington, D.C., to accomplish and it will ultimately be worthwhile.

In other words, Trump needs to remind people -- with the same bravado that took him to the White House -- that getting bills passed isn't going to be easy but that does not mean it won't eventually get done.

What the health care debacle did do for Trump was hinder the notion from the left, the resistance movement and the press that he's a ruthless dictator who will turn our county into Soviet-era Russia. After all, if you cannot control your own party, you certainly will not rule the country with an iron fist.

There is a lot of hypocrisy in complaining that Trump is both dictatorial and ineffectual.

It's been almost five months since the November election, yet in many ways, the news media has failed to move on to other stories because it didn't get that story right. That's a drag that has pulled both it and the Trump administration into political quicksand, making it impossible for anyone to move forward because both entities are trying to correct each other.

"It's like it is still midnight on November 8 and we are waiting as a country for the dawn on November 9," explained Brad Todd, a founding partner of OnMessage Inc. "So many people cannot get to the next day."

A lot of people who are trying to understand why people voted for Trump believe that those voters did not care whether he was competent or not and were going to vote for him because they were voting against America's elites.

This is only partially true. There were negative and positive elements to their votes; they were excited by Trump not only because he appeared to like them and offered to be their champion but also because they thought he was skilled. Just look at Trump Tower, the plane and the role he played on his reality television show.

This presidency is in its infancy; this populism is not. It is neither the beginning nor the end of it, and in all likelihood, it will continue for a very long time. Our world is changing in technological terms, more rapidly and drastically than our values, traditions and economic stability.

Despite the drama of the health care vote, the president has not lost the base of supporters who put him into office. As Todd said, we are stuck at midnight on Nov. 8 -- yes, he can lose them, but he hasn't yet.

And going after the Freedom Caucus is also smart. Why? It is Trump's unique pivot of persuasion and one of the things that his supporters love about him.

In Freedom Caucus districts, he is the only person of whom those House members are afraid. No one else can scare them, certainly not House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The only thing they fear is a primary, and the president is the one person who could do that.

Should he continue to have them over for bowling? Yes. But he should also continue to hammer them on social media, in local newspapers and on local talk radio.

Complaining about them to the Washington Post means nothing to these members. Go in their districts, though, and he can make them bend.

That is what his voters are looking for, and that is what will keep them on his side because they know that is what democracy looks like.

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This Is What Democracy Looks Like - Townhall