2007 was a year of tightening political and personal freedoms around the world according to a report released this month by Freedom House.

While in many countries activists fought bravely against repressive regimes–bloggers in China, lawyers in Pakistan, monks in Burma–these were not victories, but rather symptoms of a larger problem. According to the Freedom House report, this is the first time freedoms have declined for two consecutive years in the last 15.

Read a summary of the Freedom House report findings in an article by The Christian Science Monitor.

And an Economist article about common critiques of Freedom House, most notably its substantial US government funding.