The results of the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU's) Democracy Index (full report and methodology) confirm that, following a decades-long global trend in democratisation, the spread of democracy has come to a halt. A comparison of the results for 2008 with those from the first edition of the index, which covered 2006, shows that the dominant pattern in the past two years has been stagnation. While there is no recent trend of outright regression, there are few instances of major improvement, and the global financial crisis—resulting in a sharp and possibly protracted recession—could threaten democracy in some parts of the world.

The crisis threatens to undermine the credibility of free-market capitalism; a broken financial system may discredit Western values in general. A broader backlash may develop against free markets and neo-liberal ideology in some countries as economic conditions deteriorate.

Laza Kekic, the EIU's director for country forecasting services, says that "while it is highly unlikely that developed countries would experience a significant rollback of democracy, there is little cause for complacency, especially about the impact on emerging markets with fragile democratic institutions."

Much will depend on the depth and duration of the economic recession, as well as the extent to which attitudes towards the market and role of government actually shift.