Over the past five to seven years, democracy and rights have been on a downward slide in nearly every country in Asia that is either a mature, long-lasting democracy or something close to it.
This is part of a global trend of democratic decline. By the monitoring organization Freedom House's calculations, for 19 years, democracy has eroded around the world.
Asia, which had been home to many success stories held up by world leaders and political experts as models of democratic reform, has been particularly hard hit. And now, many developed states are cutting their aid budgets — most notably, the United States, once the giant of democracy promotion.
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