According to a 2023 report by Freedom House, the level of democracy in Georgia has fallen to 34%, the lowest level in a decade.
The report says that amid a decades-long trend of violence and harassment against journalists, manifested in the arrest of the director of a television company critical of the government, and in an increasingly polarized and politicized media environment, media independence ratings have fallen from 3.50 to 3.25 [the highest score 7].
It should be noted that over the past few years, Georgia has always ranked in the category of countries with hybrid regimes.
Freedom House writes that in 2022 the development of democracy in Georgia was followed closely, although structural problems in areas such as the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the media and a multi-party system remained largely unresolved. According to the report, this impedes the development of democracy in the country and the process of integration into the European Union.
In addition, Freedom House notes that in 2022, the willingness of the ruling Georgian Dream party to accept criticism, including from strategic partners, has decreased. The report criticizes the policy of the Georgian government – the organization believes that the government is not doing enough to get the status of an EU candidate, and identifies polarization as the main problem.
“Ultimately, public skepticism about the government’s course, the state of the economy, and disillusionment with the party system, including the ruling Georgian Dream party, reached its peak,” writes Freedom House.
