Georgia’s Democracy Score declined from 3.07 to 3.04, while Democracy Percentage is 33.93 of 100, according to the latest research of Freedom House, a non-profit organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world.

The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 1 the lowest. The Democracy Score is an average of ratings for the categories tracked in a given year.

The Democracy Percentage, introduced in 2020, is a translation of the Democracy Score to the 0-100 scale, where 0 equals least democratic and 100 equals most democratic.

According to the annual report, the Independent Media rating declined from 3.50 to 3.25 due to a multiyear trend of worsening harassment and violence against journalists, exemplified by the arrest and sentencing of the director of two government-critical TV stations, as well as an increasingly polarized and politicized media environment that has undermined editorial independence.

Democracy in Georgia was closely observed in 2022 as the country took concerted steps to move towards European Union (EU) candidate status. However, structural problems in such areas as judicial independence, media freedom, and multiparty governance remained largely unresolved, hindering democratic development and EU integration processes in the country. Western observers, including US representatives, signalled “deep concerns about Georgia’s democratic trajectory.”

Over the year, public support for existing political parties decreased, with over 70% of respondents willing to see new actors on the Georgian political scene.

By year’s end, public scepticism over the direction of governance, state of the economy, and disenchantment with the party system, including the ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), had reached a peak,” reads the report.