CIVICUS Monitor Releases New Report: “People Power Under Attack”
Civicus, a worldwide alliance of civil society activist networks, has released its 2025 State of Civil Society report, and unsurprisingly, things aren’t good. It’s a snapshot of the world in 2025 and reflects the heightening of “right-wing populism” alongside rising autocracy.
The statistics underscore that in current conflicts, civilians are targeted, war crimes have been committed, and international law is out the window. Children and women are the most impacted (while women-led organizations continue to be marginalized in peacebuilding spaces). There is evidence that journalists and humanitarian workers are being singled out for their efforts to document what is transpiring and in assisting populations on the ground.
There is no dearth of hot spots from Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The findings came to my attention because of the sections on the degraded status of the United States and Israel. America is now rated 56/100, which is “obstructed.” (Canada is “open” at 82/100) Israel is 39/100 or “repressed.” Saudi Arabia, with which Trump is seeking to build a stronger alliance, has a 05/100 “closed” rating.
Each country gets its own page populated with articles. For the United States, a November drilldown outlines the “Expansion of law enforcement and continued suppression of critical voices.” The most recent post (6/2025) on Israel covered Gaza. The write-up featured conclusions that genocide had occurred, the International Criminal Court warrants, and the aid embargo information. On the domestic front, it documented “judicial reforms,” the crackdown on human rights organizations, and the violent response of police (Magav) to Israeli Jewish demonstrators in Jerusalem and other cities.
There is a separate “Gaza Ground Zero” account with data. It states that “at least 1.9 million people (90 percent of Gaza’s population) have been displaced. 92 percent of homes have been totally or partially destroyed. 320 humanitarian workers and 170 journalists have been killed—some deliberately.” Also covered is the violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel’s military actions in the Golan Heights and Lebanon.
Back in America, the findings point to Trump’s extensive use of Executive Orders, including the nonsensical ones (the acquisition of Greenland). A highlight is that the winner of an election, even a fairly conducted one, can cause havoc in undermining the structures and underpinnings of democracy. Good to keep in mind as we approach the republic’s 250th birthday and next year’s midterms.
Common threads are apparent worldwide. The populist right stokes economic fears, nationalism, and anti-immigration sentiment, mixed with “culture war” talking points, to foster an environment of ongoing turmoil. These approaches are combined with attacks on checks and balances, freedom of the press, and scapegoating specific groups.
One of the most disturbing aspects is the proliferation of AI-generated propaganda and disinformation, spread through fraudulent social media accounts. Tech billionaires have chosen to align with the sources of “profit and power,” abandoning corporate social responsibility as a concept of the past, changing the equation dramatically. Additionally, Spyware is omnipresent.
Trump’s behavior is unleashing parallel attitudes among other world “leaders” who were previously more moderate. Echoing Timothy Snyder, the findings note that despite severe challenges to democracy, there is “significant capacity for renewal,” which lies in “grassroots civic engagement” that can stymie “authoritarian creep.”
Meanwhile, the situation in Europe is also not encouraging. England (the United Kingdom) does not have a rating change in this year’s report, but their 2024 rating was “obstructed.”
I reached out to CIVICUS to get additional input. I was forwarded quotes by the Secretary General of CIVICUS, Mandeep Tiwana. He wrote:
“We see a continued trend of attacks on people’s right to speak up, come together as a collective, and protest for their rights around the world. This year’s slide is led by states often seen as models of democracy such as the USA, France, and Italy. In a context of rising authoritarianism and populism, no country seems immune from this deeply worrying trend.
Civic freedoms are the backbone of good governance and inclusive democracy, but fewer and fewer governments are willing to respect the agency of their people to freely and meaningfully participate in public life.
We are witnessing a global emergency for civic freedoms.”
Tiwana pointed to a few positive examples, such as Chile, Senegal, and Gabon. However, he emphasized, “These remain exceptions to a troubling global trend. Governments must act decisively: dismantle restrictive policies, end arbitrary detentions, and guarantee the right to protest. If they fail, they risk eroding the legitimacy that underpins their authority.”
Ine Van Severen, who handles the CIVICUS Monitor, sent, “While each downgrade reflects the sum of particular incidents in a country or territory, together they show clearly that across the world, civic space is under sustained attack by governments and anti-rights actors. She explained, “The detention of protesters and activists has become the preferred method of governments to silence those who dissent or publicly disagree with the authorities [who] must stop detaining people and breaking up protests, and instead start listening to and engaging with people’s demands.”
It’s not uplifting to see the United States on the CIVICUS watchlist with the text, “The United States appears to be sliding deeper into the quicksands of authoritarianism.” But this is where we are.
An important thought to bring into 2026 and the upcoming battle to reclaim “people power.”
Images: Courtesy of CIVICUS
