The phenomenon that the California-based think tank calls “truth decay” consists of four trends: an increasing disagreement about facts and data, a blurring of the line between opinion and fact, the increasing relative volume and resulting influence of opinion over fact, and declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information. The authors were also able to identify all four trends in Europe, although with varying degrees in different countries and overall, less pronounced than on the other side of the Atlantic.

Examples of growing misperceptions of facts and data include increasing vaccine scepticism and overestimating the extent of migration in countries such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Poland. The authors also found evidence of a blurring of the line between opinions and facts, for example, an increase in opinion journalism. In this respect, however, the media culture of northern European countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries differs. Interestingly, the study finds that while trust in political institutions declined around the turn of the millennium, this trend has reversed since the end of the financial crisis, unlike in the United States. Trust in the media, on the other hand, has declined steadily over the past 20 years.

The study suggests that political polarisation is the central driver of “truth decay”, along with changes in the media and information landscape. This goes hand in hand with a decline in trust in institutions that were previously generally recognised as sources of objective information. For example, following the highly polarised debate surrounding the Brexit referendum, trust in British media declined significantly. Poland, too, saw an increase in polarisation and a simultaneous decline in trust in public institutions and the media. Finally, different degrees of polarisation are also one of the factors that may explain why the phenomenon described by the study is much more pronounced in the United States than in Europe.

Read more in the study “Truth Decay in Europe. Exploring the role of facts and analysis in European public life”, published in May 2022. An audio interview with the authors is available here.

The political landscape of the six countries – Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru – is shaped in different ways by factors such as economic inequality and exclusion, corruption, ideological differences, violence and a weak state. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated social problems in many states. In their contributions, the authors each provide answers to four questions on the political situation in the six countries: What are the most important socio-political divides, the effects of the pandemic and the greatest dangers to democracy and, finally, how can these risks be addressed? Overall, the country reports paint a sobering, though not entirely negative, picture. The authors argue that there are serious dangers to democracy, from the erosion of democratic structures to the rise of illiberal political forces. But these developments are not inevitable, and the essays conclude with recommendations on how to improve the situation.

Read more in “Divisive Politics and Democratic Dangers in Latin America”, published in February 2021.