ZIMBABWE has continued to struggle in improving its human rights record and remains stuck in the predicament when some of its neighbours have recorded improved performance in the latest Global State of Democracy (GSoD) for 2025 report.
According to the report, Zimbabwe scored low on the rule of law (ranking 147), rights (118), representation (116) and participation (111), remaining weak.
In the report produced by the Swedish-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the GSoD Indices are organised around four core categories of democratic performance — representation, rights, rule of law and participation.
Each of the four categories includes several factors, such as credible elections and judicial independence.
“Among the four categories, performance was strongest overall in representation, with 47 countries (27%) achieving high scores in 2024.
“However, in the 2024 electoral super-cycle year, the global score for representation fell to its lowest level since 2001, with seven times more countries declining than advancing,” the report read.
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“These declines occurred around the world in both low- and high-performing democracies. Rule of law continues to be the category with the weakest performance.”
The report indicated that in 2024, 71 countries (41%) were categorised as low-performing.
“The highest number of aggregate-level declines also occurred in the rule of law category; 32 countries (19% of those assessed and most low- or mid-range-performing) registered downturns in this category in 2024,” the report said.
“European countries accounted for 38% of these downturns, followed by countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and West Asia.
“Declines within the rule of raw category were most concentrated in the factor of judicial independence.”
According to International IDEA secretary Kevin Casas-Zamora, the state and fate of democracy in the world is perhaps more uncertain than it has ever been in our lifetime.
“In addition to this macro trend, this year’s Global State of Democracy report reveals democratic instability at a thematic level. Representation is the strongest aspect of democracy overall, according to International IDEA’s indices,” he said.
“Yet, amid an unprecedented 74 national elections in 2024, representation scores collapsed to their worst level in over 20 years, with seven times more countries declining than advancing.
“Meanwhile, rule of law — the weakest overall performer — fell most strikingly in Europe, where performance has been historically robust.
“Only participation scores stayed relatively constant, confirming our previous findings that much of democracy’s lingering resilience comes from civic engagement, including in regions suffering deterioration in other aspects of democracy.”
Casas-Zamora added that if this radical uncertainty is visible in the data, it is felt in human lives.
“This is certainly true with respect to where people live and what it means for them to live there. More than 300 million people now reside outside the country of their birth, a figure that has tripled since the 1970s, modestly outpacing total population growth,” he said.
“The political inclusion or exclusion of these people in their countries of citizenship reflects important questions — both philosophical and practical — about national belonging and civil rights in a modern democracy.
“Current migration trends render those questions unavoidable for democracies around the world. These indicators reflect long-standing realities: the erosion of judicial independence, shrinking civic and media freedoms, lack of credible elections and the marginalisation of citizens from meaningful decision-making.”
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, political analyst Tendai Mbofana said, strikingly, Zimbabwe was not just falling behind global democracies but also its African peers.
“Countries like Zambia have recorded notable improvements through freer elections and stronger civic participation, while Zimbabwe continues to stagnate,” he said.
“This demonstrates that the country’s democratic malaise is not inevitable, nor is it simply the result of external pressures. It is the product of domestic choices — corruption, authoritarian governance, weak institutions, and disregard for rights.
“Ultimately, Zimbabwe’s continued presence in the lower rungs of democracy rankings should be a wake-up call.
“Unless there is genuine political will to restore electoral credibility, strengthen the Judiciary and open civic space, the country will remain trapped in the cycle of poor governance and international embarrassment.”
Meanwhile, the report said the issue of migration was ultimately a question of the meaning of belonging in a democratic society.
“It challenges democracies not because human migration itself is inherently destabilising but because it compels challenging questions about if and how to reconsider the boundaries of the polity,” it read.
“As migration rates continue to increase, democracies are increasingly confronted with questions of whether and how to include their non-resident citizens in political processes.
“Resilient democracies are inclusive, but what considerations should be made to determine whether or not non-resident citizens may continue to influence political decisions in their countries of origin? If out-of-country voting systems are implemented, which mechanisms are best suited to particular contexts?”