Democratic backsliding by country (fictional)

Obanacia
Under the rule of Jati Nasanga Kore and his Hajor nationalist, right-wing Hajorai Nasé Bakira Ukhrahdan (HNBU) party, Obanacia has been frequently been described as experiencing democratic backsliding since his election in 2018. Political scientists and lawyers have blambed the backsliding on rising Hajor nationalism and populism, which was mostly indirectly on the Hangalese refugee crisis since 2009, when large amounts of Hajor refugees left Hangala for Obanacia due to a socioeconomic crisis. In 2012, the Obanacian government stopped accepting Hangalese asylum seekers due to fears that it would cause a rise in populism and political instability so the Hajorai Nasé Bakira Ukhrahdan was formed by Hajors, quickly gaining popularity and countering the Obanacian Labor Force's policies. The Nutaderrami paramilitary organization Kholat Jaminda Nutaderramin also gained in popularity among the HNBU members, mostly because the fall of Hajorian nationalism after Rasa Tahamirjadasa's assasination was parralleled with the abolition of Nutaderrami as the state religion of Obanacia and the loosening of restrictions on other faiths. This contributed to a resurgence of intolerant, authoritarianism, and populist identity poitics associated with the Hajor ethnic group, a sharp rise in populist movements against the OLF, and a sharp decline in religious tolerance, especially between Nutaderramis and Muslims.

After Kore's election, he began to pursue discriminatory reforms as part of his ethno-nationalist policy, believing that Hajors have been underrepresented and heavily discriminated in politics after previous reforms attempted to counterbalance the representation of Hajors. He has worked to consolidate Hajor power over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches by overrepresenting Hajors in Obanacian politics, culture, and media, even though it was not the predominant ethnic group at the time of his election. Examples of democratic backsliding in Obanacia include requiring that the prime minister, president, and vice president should all be ethnic Hajors, abusing sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism laws against other ethnic groups, weakening and heavily politicization of the judiciary to delegitimize other ethnic groups, and frequently disseminating racist and right-wing populist advertisements made by HNBU. In 2019, Obanacia's Penal Code was abruptly amended to criminalize same-sex marriage and homosexuality with 10 year imprisonment and fines.

During his term, Kore threatened the shutdown of WAO Television and WAO Radio, which promoted ethnic multiculturalism, being famous for criticizing Kore's government for human rights abuses against the LGBT community and ethnic minorities that were deemed "defamatory" by the ruling government. On September 30, 2021, WAO Television permanently ceased broadcasts due to the government issuing a cease-and-desist order against We Are One due to its broadcast license expiring, ordering WAO Television and WAO Radio to cease broadcasts. Kore told the media that WAO Television and WAO Radio were shut down for defamatory reasons and it promoted "hate speech" against the Obanacian government and the Hajor ethnicity, even though it claimed to promote ethnic unity.

In Freedom in the World, Obanacia's score has downgraded from 82 in 2017 to 53 in 2021. In the Democracy Index, Obanacia downgraded from "flawed democracy" to "hybrid regime" in 2019. According to the 2020 report of the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Obanacia had by 2019 become the second FNOS member to downgrade to a "electoral autocracy". Jati Nasanga Kore and his supporters have harshly dismissed criticism of its record on democracy issues.