Democracy Metrics 2023: Stagnation, Resilience, and Controversy

‘Tis the season for the release of annual democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) indicators. These metrics capture global, regional, and country trends in democracy and governance over time. Policymakers, advocacy groups, and the media rely upon these data sources to frame their positions on key DRG issues. They are important to monitor as they provide information on local needs and dynamics that may affect ongoing USAID programs. This issue of the Learning Digest summarizes lessons from the latest indicator metrics and annual reports of prominent DRG sector public policy organizations. 

This edition of the DRG Learning Digest examines the following topics:

• From Decline to Stagnation?
• Democracy in Context
• Mastering Metrics: Is Democracy Really Declining?