A new study confirms that disheartening diagnosis. It finds 2.5 billion people—about a third of the world’s population—live in nations where democracy is in retreat. “Media autonomy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law have undergone the greatest decline among democracy metrics in recent years,” lead author Anna Lührmann, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburn in Sweden, said in announcing the findings. “This worrisome trend makes elections less meaningful around the world.”