There are two important recessions going on in the world today. One has gotten enormous attention. It\u2019s the economic recession in America. But it will eventually pass, and the world will not be much worse for the wear. The other has gotten no attention. It\u2019s called \u201cthe democratic recession,\u201d\u009d and if it isn\u2019t reversed, it will change the world for a long time.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cdemocratic recession\u201d\u009d was coined by Larry Diamond, a Stanford University political scientist, in his new book \u201cThe Spirit of Democracy.\u201d\u009d And the numbers tell the story. At the end of last year, Freedom House, which tracks democratic trends and elections around the globe, noted that 2007 was by far the worst year for freedom in the world since the end of the cold war. Almost four times as many states \u201d\u201d 38 \u201d\u201d declined in their freedom scores as improved \u201d\u201d 10.<\/p>\n
What explains this? A big part of this reversal is being driven by the rise of petro-authoritarianism. I\u2019ve long argued that the price of oil and the pace of freedom operate in an inverse correlation \u201d\u201d which I call: \u201cThe First Law of Petro-Politics.\u201d\u009d As the price of oil goes up, the pace of freedom goes down. As the price of oil goes down, the pace of freedom goes up.<\/p>\n