The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Democracy Index which ranks 167 countries by 60 indicators across five broad categories.
The categories considered for the index are electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties.
The index classifies each country either as a full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or authoritarian.
Highlights of the Democracy Index
The important findings of the democracy index are:
- Only 4.5% of the world’s people live in a full democracy.
- The overall global score remained stable in 2018 for the first time in three years.
- 42 countries experienced a decline in their index score compared with 89 in 2017 and 48 countries have improved their score.
- The Index notes that threats to democracy around the world have become increasingly obvious. The Arab spring fizzled, China’s leader is poised to rule for life, Populists with autocratic tendencies have won elections in the Philippines, Brazil and Mexico. Democratic institutions have been subverted in Hungary, Turkey and Poland.
- The subversion of the democratic institutions have become so glaring that strongmen in different countries often copy each other’s tactics, sound bites and voters have become scapegoats.
- Political participation is the most improved category in the index.
Rankings of the Countries
The countries rankings are highlighted below:
- Australia and New Zealand are the only “full democracies” in the entire Asia-Pacific region
- Eight countries Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, North Korea, Laos, Nepal and Sri Lanka which have the word “democratic in full titles were not fully democratic.
- India was at the 41st place with a score of 7.23/10 and was placed in the flawed democracies category.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, which is a British multinational media company headquartered in London. It provides forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports, and industry reports. It publishes a number of reports each year focussing on current issues affecting specific countries, regions and industries.