DEMOPOCRISY


RANKED 59 of 195



Grade 64 (D) in the World for Human Rights



When comparing the U.S. to its regional neighbors in the Americas, it ranks 14th of 31 countries. It is the sixth worst scoring country among OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries which are sometimes taken to represent “developed” countries.


Source: University of Rhode Island Global Rights Project 2023 Annual Report


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Ranked 1 of 30



The U.S. spends more on the military budget than any other country.



The United States spends more on national defense than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, and Ukraine — combined.


Source: Peter G. Peterson Foundation US Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries


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Ranked 19 OF 167



Prosperity on the Legatum Prosperity Index



United States performs most strongly in Enterprise Conditions and Infrastructure & Market Access but is weakest in Health. The biggest improvement compared to a decade ago came in Investment Environment.


Source: Prosperity Legatum Prosperity Index 2023


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Ranked 11 of 11



Access to affordable & universal healthcare coverage



The United States has the poorest performance on the affordability subdomain. Americans are more likely to report that their insurance denied payment of a claim or paid less than expected. and more likely to report difficulty in paying medical bills.


Source: The Commonwealth Fund Health Care in the U.S. Compared to Other High-Income Countries


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SCORE 83 OF 100



Free Country with Political Rights & Civil Liberties



The United States is a federal republic whose people benefit from a vibrant political system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. However, in recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion.


Source: Freedom House Freedom in the World 2024


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One of the Worst Places in the World to Raise a Family



Receiving a Failing Score Related to Safety, Cost and Time



According to a new study from the travel website Asher & Lyric, the United States is the second worst place in the world to raise a family. The country came in at a shockingly low 34th place out of 35 countries, only beating out crime-ridden Mexico. Topping the list of best places to raise a family were countries like Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland (which was recently named the happiest country in the world for the third year in a row).


Source: Forbes 35 Best and Worst Countries to Raise a Family


Asher & Lyric Data

MORE SCHOOL SHOOTINGS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD



The United States Reaches 413 School Shootings While No Other Country Had More than 7



School shootings are considered by many to be an epidemic in the United States, as is gun violence in general. According to data from Everytown Research, the United States averaged just over 87 school shootings each year from 2013 to 2021, resulting in an annual average of 28.4 dead and 59.6 wounded


More than 378,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine and there have been 413 school shootings since 1999, according to Post data. There were more school shootings in 2022 — 46 — than in any year since at least 1999.


Beyond the dead and wounded, children who witness the violence or cower behind locked doors to hide from it can be profoundly traumatized.


Source: World Population Review & The Washington Post School Shooting Database


World Population Review
The Washington Post

THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY IS DECLINING IN THE U.S.



The Average American Life Expectancy Reduced by 3 Years Since 2015



Since 2015, the United States has seen a historic decline in life expectancy, in large part driven by the opioid epidemic and then the COVID-19 pandemic. The last two years marked the biggest drop in a century, with expectancy sinking to 76.1 years for Americans born in 2021, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


This is down from an average of around 79 years in 2019, an enormous difference considering health experts typically measure life expectancy shifts in months, not years.


Source: Council on Foreign Relations U.S. Life Expectancy Is in Decline. Why Aren’t Other Countries Suffering the Same Problem?


Council on Foreign Relations

READING & MATH SCORES ARE DROPPING EACH YEAR



Racial Disparity is Even Wider than Before While Both Races Are Falling Below the Curve



According to The Nation's Report Card 2023, the average scores, from tests given last fall, declined 4 points in reading and 9 points in math, compared with tests given in the 2019-2020 school year, and are the lowest in decades. The declines in reading were more pronounced for lower performing students, but dropped across all percentiles.


Among Black students, math scores declined 13 points, while white students had a 6-point drop. Compared with the 35-point gap between Black and white students in 2020, the disparity widened to 42 points.


Source: NPR U.S Reading and Math Scores Drop to Lowest in Decades


Nation's Report Card

MORE MONEY IS SPENT ON INCARCERATION THAN EDUCATION



The U.S. Spent $20,580 More Per Person in 2022 to Incarcerate than Educate



Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States were $927 billion in 2020–21 (in constant 2022–23 dollars). This amounts to an average of $18,614 per public school pupil enrolled in the fall of that school year.


Based on FY 2022 data, the average annual COIF for a Federal inmate housed in a Bureau or non-Bureau facility in FY 2022 was $42,672 ($116.91 per day). The average annual COIF for a Federal inmate housed in a Residential Reentry Center for FY 2022 was $39,197 ($107.39 per day).

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Source: Broadcast Reporting The government invests more for each inmate than for each student.


University of Kent

IMMIGRATION



About Half of All Immigrants from 1965-2022 are from Latin America



​​The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 46.1 million in 2022. Growth accelerated after Congress made U.S. immigration laws more permissive in 1965. In 1970, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. was less than a quarter of what it is today.


Mexico is the top country of birth for U.S. immigrants. In 2022, roughly 10.6 million immigrants living in the U.S. were born there, making up 23% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest origin groups were those from India (6%), China (5%), the Philippines (4%) and El Salvador (3%).

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Source: Pew Research Center What the Data Says About Immigrants in the U.S.


Pew Reseach Center Data

MODERN SLAVERY & HUMAN TRAFFICKING



Discrimination is Increasing the Number of People Living in Modern Slavery in the U.S.



Human trafficking is an affront to our foundational values—that everyone is created equal and has the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It erodes our communities, weakens the rule of law, and undermines our national security.​​


Prevalence of modern slavery is among the lowest of countries in the Americas, yet the estimated total number of people living in modern slavery is the highest of all countries in the region. Vulnerability is largely driven by discrimination towards migrants and minority groups, irregular migration and organized crime along the US-Mexico border, poverty, and the use of state-imposed forced labor within the prison system, which critically undermines the government’s response.


Source: Walk Free Global Slavery Index Modern Slavery in the United States


Walk Free Data

CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING & EXPLOITATION



The U.S. is the Top Destination for Child Sex Trafficking



In the U.S., child trafficking is aggravated by four main factors: the porous southern border, predatory social media use, pornography, and broken families. In 2018, over half (51.6%) of the criminal human trafficking cases active in the U.S. were sex trafficking cases involving only children.


About 50,000 people, primarily from Mexico and the Philippines, are trafficked into the U.S. annually. U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered an average of 435 unaccompanied minors per day. One study suggests that drug cartels and traffickers will exploit 60% of these children in prostitution, forced labor, and child pornography. ​​


Source: The Heritage Foundation U.S. Is a Top Destination for Child Sex Trafficking, and It’s Happening in Your Community


The Heritage Foundation

DEMONSTRATIONS & POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AMERICA



A Crisis Likely to Intensify



​​These data reveal that the United States is in crisis. It faces a multitude of concurrent, overlapping risks — from police abuse and racial injustice, to pandemic-related unrest and beyond — all exacerbated by increasing polarization. This report maps these trends with a view toward the upcoming election, when these intersecting risks are likely to intensify.


Source: ACLED Data Demonstrations and Political Violence in America: New Data for Summer 2020


ACLED Data

INDIGENOUS MISSING & MURDERED



More Than 4 in 5 Have Experienced Violence in Their Lifetime,



For decades, Native American and Alaska Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction, and murder of tribal members. Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples.


Approximately 1,500 American Indian and Alaska Native missing persons have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) throughout the U.S. and approximately 2,700 cases of Murder and Nonnegligent Homicide Offenses have been reported to the Federal Government’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. In total, BIA estimates there are approximately 4,200 missing and murdered cases that have gone unsolved.


Source: Department of the Interior Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis


Dept of the Interior