Global democracy is at greater risk than at any time in the past 25 years, according to a landmark report by the independent watchdog Freedom House.

In the annual report, Discarding Democracy: Return to the Iron Fist, the Washington-based group said 61 countries were going backwards as far as democracy was concerned, compared with only 33 moving forwards. Moreover, some of the transgressors, including Russia, Egypt, Thailand, Nigeria and Turkey, are global or regional powers setting a bad example to others, it said.

Its findings come despite the fact that 2014 was a record year for democracy, with more people casting votes in national ballots than ever before. But holding elections does not always translate into healthy democracy. As the authoritarian Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, put it: “A democracy does not necessarily have to be liberal.”

“Acceptance of democracy as the world’s dominant form of government – and of an international system built on democratic ideals – is under greater threat than at any other point in the last 25 years,” said Arch Puddington, vice-president for research at Freedom House.

“Until recently, most authoritarian regimes claimed to respect international agreements and paid lip service to the norms of competitive elections and human rights,” he added. “Today they argue for the superiority of what amounts to one-party rule, and seek to throw off the constraints of fundamental diplomatic principles.”

Freedom House also noted that women are the main targets for repression, and that levels of brutality under authoritarian regimes are at an all-time high. The report finds that nearly every part of the world is in danger of significant threats to freedom.

Syria proved to be the state with the worst democratic record in 2014, following the advance of Islamic State and an increase in violence between rebel groups and the state. The Middle East generally was found to have suffered an overall decline in freedom, despite the trend over the past 10 years to move toward competitive elections. Tunisia is the only Arab world country going in the right direction, Freedom House said.

Freedom in the European Union also showed signs of decline, led by Hungary’s move away from democratic standards over the past five years.

Repression has become more brutal and more widespread. Techniques of control are more aggressive, with internet freedoms curbed and some increasing online monitoring. While a free press has been the traditional target of attack by repressive governments, the Freedom House report notes restrictions to sites such as YouTube demonstrate the increasingly far-reaching nature of control.