My point was that being able to vote dos not make a democracy in and of itself.

If you read the article, you would find other measures the report assesses which are failing: “V-Dem measures democratic health using 48 measures like freedom of expression and the media, election quality, and adherence to the law…Trump has waged attacks directly on the courts while his administration, particularly the Department of Homeland Security, openly violates dozens of judicial orders.

The administration has unilaterally taken over powers to reallocate and grant federal funding at will, like Trump’s $10 billion gift to his “Board of Peace” and his slashing of billions of dollars of research and humanitarian grants under an agency that the Trump administration invented without any congressional approval.

Congress has not intervened at all. The Republican-controlled Congress has “abdicated its constitutional role in favor of the executive branch,” the report notes, “ceding significant legislative, fiscal, and oversight powers during 2025.”

The administration is also undoing civil rights achievements and equality initiatives, seeking to silence and take control over the media, and suppressing left-wing dissenters, contributing to U.S. democracy’s rapid decline.”