governments becoming less transparent and losing the people's trust. In a major foreign policy speech after becoming the top American diplomat, Blinken said the latest report 'Freedom in the World 2021' by Freedom House is "sobering". The report, which is an annual country-by-country assessment of political rights and civil liberties, downgraded the freedom scores of 73 countries, representing 75 per cent of the global population. Democracy has eroded in the United States as well, the report noted. While still considered 'free', the United States experienced further democratic decline during the final year of the Trump presidency, it said. The US score in 'Freedom in the World' has dropped by 11 points over the past decade, and fell by three points in 2020 alone.