Doyle McManus: Democracy around the world is looking a little healthier, at least next to the alternative

More than a decade ago, scholars began pointing to a troubling global trend: a "democratic recession." Dozens of countries were drifting away from democracy toward authoritarianism.

The list of backsliders has spanned the globe from India and South Africa to Hungary, Poland, Mexico — even, in recent years, the United States.

Freedom House, a nonprofit organization that rates countries on electoral practices, civil liberties and other measures, has reported 16 consecutive years of the world becoming less democratic.