Formal report · July 2026
July 2026 Democracy Health Report
Score: 9.4 / 10 · Prior: 9.2 · Movement: +0.2 · Deep Red Zone
Report summary
July moved the index to 9.4 as election administration, press freedom, agency independence, DOJ compliance, and war-powers accountability deteriorated together. Courts and other institutions still imposed meaningful limits, but the number and intensity of simultaneous defensive confrontations increased.
Category scorecard
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Election Integrity & Peaceful Transfer | 9.5 |
| Rule of Law & Court Compliance | 9.6 |
| Habeas Corpus & Due Process | 9.6 |
| Coercive State Power & Policing Norms | 9.2 |
| Political Targeting / Weaponization of Justice | 9.6 |
| Press Freedom & Information Control | 9.4 |
| Civil Society & Associational Freedom | 8.4 |
| Institutional Checks & Anti-Corruption | 9.4 |
| Military & Intelligence Neutrality | 9.2 |
Key judgment
Resistance remains functional, but increasingly reactive.
The system has not collapsed. Its safeguards are being forced to operate at near-emergency intensity across multiple domains at once.
The system has not collapsed. Its safeguards are being forced to operate at near-emergency intensity across multiple domains at once.
July 2026 monthly report package. Authored by Kurt Lohse with research and analytical support from OpenAI's ChatGPT.