It’s a free country.

That quip still flies in the United States – even if access to the fruits of that freedom can sometimes seem uneven. That’s worth holding dear at the end of a week in which, for example, a 21-year-old Hong Kong activist drew a prison sentence for blocking a road during a protest in Beijing in 2014.

In China, a new party manifesto has just emerged citing a worldwide “democratic deficit” as an opening for some global reshaping. Meanwhile, a report this week from Freedom House indicates that democracy is in retreat worldwide. That’s not a new trend. But this year the watchdog’s report cites the sharpest one-year drop for the US in four decades of monitoring.

Separately this week, a Gallup survey spanning 134 countries indicated that confidence in US leadership had slipped to a new low – landing the US below China, incidentally, in approval rankings. (Peter Ford explores global perceptions of the US below.)

As long as we’re pulling data from the week, here’s some with a little lift: A national survey by Pew Research Center has 61 percent of Americans thinking that 2018 will be a better year.

Yes, the reasons vary by party affiliation. But from optimism, good can flow.  

Now to our five stories for today, chosen to highlight growing acceptance, and role shifts from resistance to leadership in the US and the world.