Democracy Index

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper The Economist. Akin to a Human Development Index but centrally concerned with political institutions and freedoms, the index attempts to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries and territories, of which 166 are sovereign states and 164 are UN member states.

The 2021 Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index map

Full democracies

9.01–10

8.01–9

Flawed democracies

7.01–8

6.01–7

Hybrid regimes

5.01–6

4.01–5

Authoritarian regimes

3.01–4

2.01–3

0–2.00

No data

The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes each country into one of four regime types: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. The first Democracy Index report was published in 2006. Reports were published every two years until 2010, and annually thereafter.

Methodology

As described in the report,[1] the Democracy Index produces a weighted average based on the answers to 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted answers. Most answers are experts' assessments. Some answers are provided by public-opinion surveys from the respective countries. In the case of countries for which survey results are missing, survey results for similar countries and expert assessments are used in order to fill in gaps.

The questions are grouped into five categories:

electoral process and pluralism
civil liberties
functioning of government
political participation
political culture

Each answer is converted to a score, either 0 or 1, or for the three-answer questions, 0, 0.5 or 1. With the exceptions mentioned below, within each category, the scores are added, multiplied by ten, and divided by the total number of questions within the category. There are a few modifying dependencies, which are explained much more precisely than the main rule procedures. In a few cases, an answer yielding zero for one question voids another question; e.g. if the elections for the national legislature and head of government are not considered free (question 1), then the next question, "Are elections... fair?", is not considered, but automatically scored zero. Likewise, there are a few questions considered so important that a low score on them yields a penalty on the total score sum for their respective categories, namely:

"Whether national elections are free and fair";
"The security of voters";
"The influence of foreign powers on government";
"The capability of the civil servants to implement policies".

The five category indices, which are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the overall score for a given country. Finally, the score, rounded to two decimals, decides the regime-type classification of the country.

The report discusses other indices of democracy, as defined, e.g. by Freedom House, and argues for some of the choices made by the team from the Economist Intelligence Unit. In this comparison, a higher emphasis is placed on the public opinion and attitudes, as measured by surveys, but on the other hand, economic living-standards are not weighted as one criterion of democracy (as seemingly some other investigators have done).[2][3]

The report is widely cited in the international press as well as in peer-reviewed academic journals.[4]

Definitions

Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media. These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning.[5]

Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honoured but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.[5]

Hybrid regimes are nations with regular electoral frauds, preventing them from being fair and free democracies. These nations commonly have governments that apply pressure on political opposition, non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anaemic rule of law, and more pronounced faults than flawed democracies in the realms of underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.[5]

Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (including sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace.[5]

By regime type

The following table indicates the number of nations and the percentage of World population for each type of regime. Some microstates are not considered in the calculation.

Year 2021[6]
Type of regime	Score	Countries		Proportion of World population (%)
Type of regime	Score	Number	(%)	Proportion of World population (%)
Full democracies	9.01–10.00 8.01–9.00	21	12.6%	6.4%
Flawed democracies	7.01–8.00 6.01–7.00	53	31.7%	39.3%
Hybrid regimes	5.01–6.00 4.01–5.00	34	20.4%	17.2%
Authoritarian regimes	3.01–4.00 0–3.00	59	35.3%	37.1%

By region

The following table lists the average score for each geographic region defined in the report. The By country section shows the countries in each region.

Region	Countries	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2008	2006
North America	2	8.36	8.58	8.59	8.56	8.56	8.56	8.56	8.59	8.59	8.59	8.59	8.63	8.64	8.64
Western Europe	21	8.23	8.29	8.35	8.35	8.38	8.40	8.42	8.41	8.41	8.44	8.40	8.45	8.61	8.60
Latin America and the Caribbean	24	5.83	6.09	6.13	6.24	6.26	6.33	6.37	6.36	6.38	6.36	6.35	6.37	6.43	6.37
Asia and Australasia	28	5.46	5.62	5.67	5.67	5.63	5.74	5.74	5.70	5.61	5.56	5.51	5.53	5.58	5.44
Central and Eastern Europe	28	5.36	5.36	5.42	5.42	5.40	5.43	5.55	5.58	5.53	5.51	5.50	5.55	5.67	5.76
Sub-Saharan Africa	44	4.12	4.16	4.26	4.36	4.35	4.37	4.38	4.34	4.36	4.33	4.32	4.23	4.28	4.24
Middle East and North Africa	20	3.41	3.44	3.53	3.54	3.54	3.56	3.58	3.65	3.68	3.73	3.62	3.52	3.48	3.54
World	167	5.28	5.37	5.44	5.48	5.48	5.52	5.55	5.55	5.53	5.52	5.49	5.46	5.55	5.52

The following table lists the number of countries in each of the four democracy classifications.

Year 2021
Rank	Region	Countries	Authoritarian	Hybrid regime	Flawed democracy	Full democracy	Average score
1	North America	2	0	0	1	1	8.36
2	Western Europe	21	0	1	8	12	8.23
3	Latin America and the Caribbean	24	4	7	11	2	5.83
4	Asia and Australasia	28	7	6	10	5	5.46
5	Central and Eastern Europe	28	8	4	16	0	5.36
6	Sub-Saharan Africa	44	23	14	6	1	4.12
7	Middle East and North Africa	20	17	2	1	0	3.41
	World	167	59	34	53	21	5.28

By country

The following table shows each nation's score over the years. The regions are assigned by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and may differ from conventional classifications (for example, Turkey is grouped in Western Europe).

Region	2021 rank	Country	Regime type	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2008	2006
North America	12	Canada	Full democracy	8.87	9.24	9.22	9.15	9.15	9.15	9.08	9.08	9.08	9.08	9.08	9.08	9.07	9.07
North America	26	United States	Flawed democracy	7.85	7.92	7.96	7.96	7.98	7.98	8.05	8.11	8.11	8.11	8.11	8.18	8.22	8.22
Western Europe	21	Austria	Full democracy	8.07	8.16	8.29	8.29	8.42	8.41	8.54	8.54	8.48	8.62	8.49	8.49	8.49	8.69
	36	Belgium	Flawed democracy	7.51	7.51	7.64	7.78	7.78	7.77	7.93	7.93	8.05	8.05	8.05	8.05	8.16	8.15
	37	Cyprus	Flawed democracy	7.43	7.56	7.59	7.59	7.59	7.65	7.53	7.40	7.29	7.29	7.29	7.29	7.70	7.60
	6	Denmark	Full democracy	9.09	9.15	9.22	9.22	9.22	9.20	9.11	9.11	9.38	9.52	9.52	9.52	9.52	9.52
	3	Finland	Full democracy	9.27	9.20	9.25	9.14	9.03	9.03	9.03	9.03	9.03	9.06	9.06	9.19	9.25	9.25
	22	France	Flawed democracy	7.99	7.99	8.12	7.80	7.80	7.92	7.92	8.04	7.92	7.88	7.77	7.77	8.07	8.07
	15	Germany	Full democracy	8.67	8.67	8.68	8.68	8.61	8.63	8.64	8.64	8.31	8.34	8.34	8.38	8.82	8.82
	34	Greece	Flawed democracy	7.56	7.39	7.43	7.29	7.29	7.23	7.45	7.45	7.65	7.65	7.65	7.92	8.13	8.13
	5	Iceland	Full democracy	9.18	9.37	9.58	9.58	9.58	9.50	9.58	9.58	9.65	9.65	9.65	9.65	9.65	9.71
	7	Ireland	Full democracy	9.00	9.05	9.24	9.15	9.15	9.15	8.85	8.72	8.68	8.56	8.56	8.79	9.01	9.01
	31	Italy	Flawed democracy	7.68	7.74	7.52	7.71	7.98	7.98	7.98	7.85	7.85	7.74	7.74	7.83	7.98	7.73
	14	Luxembourg	Full democracy	8.68	8.68	8.81	8.81	8.81	8.81	8.88	8.88	8.88	8.88	8.88	8.88	9.10	9.10
	33	Malta	Flawed democracy	7.57	7.68	7.95	8.21	8.15	8.39	8.39	8.39	8.28	8.28	8.28	8.28	8.39	8.39
	11	Netherlands	Full democracy	8.88	8.96	9.01	8.89	8.89	8.80	8.92	8.92	8.84	8.99	8.99	8.99	9.53	9.66
	1	Norway	Full democracy	9.75	9.81	9.87	9.87	9.87	9.93	9.93	9.93	9.93	9.93	9.80	9.80	9.68	9.55
	28	Portugal	Flawed democracy	7.82	7.90	8.03	7.84	7.84	7.86	7.79	7.79	7.65	7.92	7.81	8.02	8.05	8.16
	24	Spain	Flawed democracy	7.94	8.12	8.29	8.08	8.08	8.30	8.30	8.05	8.02	8.02	8.02	8.16	8.45	8.34
	4	Sweden	Full democracy	9.26	9.26	9.39	9.39	9.39	9.39	9.45	9.73	9.73	9.73	9.50	9.50	9.88	9.88
	9	Switzerland	Full democracy	8.90	8.83	9.03	9.03	9.03	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.15	9.02
	103	Turkey	Hybrid regime	4.35	4.48	4.09	4.37	4.88	5.04	5.12	5.12	5.63	5.76	5.73	5.73	5.69	5.70
	18	United Kingdom	Full democracy	8.10	8.54	8.52	8.53	8.53	8.36	8.31	8.31	8.31	8.21	8.16	8.16	8.15	8.08
Central and Eastern Europe	68	Albania	Flawed democracy	6.11	6.08	5.89	5.98	5.98	5.91	5.91	5.67	5.67	5.67	5.81	5.86	5.91	5.91
	89	Armenia	Hybrid regime	5.49	5.35	5.54	4.79	4.11	3.88	4.00	4.13	4.02	4.09	4.09	4.09	4.09	4.15
	141	Azerbaijan	Authoritarian	2.68	2.68	2.75	2.65	2.65	2.65	2.71	2.83	3.06	3.15	3.15	3.15	3.19	3.31
	146	Belarus	Authoritarian	2.41	2.59	2.48	3.13	3.13	3.54	3.62	3.69	3.04	3.04	3.16	3.34	3.34	3.34
	95	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hybrid regime	5.04	4.84	4.86	4.98	4.87	4.87	4.83	4.78	5.02	5.11	5.24	5.32	5.70	5.78
	53	Bulgaria	Flawed democracy	6.64	6.71	7.03	7.03	7.03	7.01	7.14	6.73	6.83	6.72	6.78	6.84	7.02	7.10
	56	Croatia	Flawed democracy	6.50	6.50	6.57	6.57	6.63	6.75	6.93	6.93	6.93	6.93	6.73	6.81	7.04	7.04
	29	Czech Republic	Flawed democracy	7.74	7.67	7.69	7.69	7.62	7.82	7.94	7.94	8.06	8.19	8.19	8.19	8.19	8.17
	27	Estonia	Flawed democracy	7.84	7.84	7.90	7.97	7.79	7.85	7.85	7.74	7.61	7.61	7.61	7.68	7.68	7.74
	91	Georgia	Hybrid regime	5.12	5.31	5.42	5.50	5.93	5.93	5.88	5.82	5.95	5.53	4.74	4.59	4.62	4.90
	56	Hungary	Flawed democracy	6.50	6.56	6.63	6.63	6.64	6.72	6.84	6.90	6.96	6.96	7.04	7.21	7.44	7.53
	128	Kazakhstan	Authoritarian	3.08	3.14	2.94	2.94	3.06	3.06	3.06	3.17	3.06	2.95	3.24	3.30	3.45	3.62
	115	Kyrgyzstan	Authoritarian	3.62	4.21	4.89	5.11	5.11	4.93	5.33	5.24	4.69	4.69	4.34	4.31	4.05	4.08
	38	Latvia	Flawed democracy	7.31	7.24	7.49	7.38	7.25	7.31	7.37	7.48	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.23	7.37
	40	Lithuania	Flawed democracy	7.18	7.13	7.50	7.50	7.41	7.47	7.54	7.54	7.54	7.24	7.24	7.24	7.36	7.43
	69	Moldova	Flawed democracy	6.10	5.78	5.75	5.85	5.94	6.01	6.35	6.32	6.32	6.32	6.32	6.33	6.50	6.50
	74	Montenegro	Flawed democracy	6.02	5.77	5.65	5.74	5.69	5.72	6.01	5.94	5.94	6.05	6.15	6.27	6.43	6.57
	73	North Macedonia	Flawed democracy	6.03	5.89	5.97	5.87	5.57	5.23	6.02	6.25	6.16	6.16	6.16	6.16	6.21	6.33
	51	Poland	Flawed democracy	6.80	6.85	6.62	6.67	6.67	6.83	7.09	7.47	7.12	7.12	7.12	7.05	7.30	7.30
	61	Romania	Flawed democracy	6.43	6.40	6.49	6.38	6.44	6.62	6.68	6.68	6.54	6.54	6.54	6.60	7.06	7.06
	124	Russia	Authoritarian	3.24	3.31	3.11	2.94	3.17	3.24	3.31	3.39	3.59	3.74	3.92	4.26	4.48	5.02
	63	Serbia	Flawed democracy	6.36	6.22	6.41	6.41	6.41	6.57	6.71	6.71	6.67	6.33	6.33	6.33	6.49	6.62
	45	Slovakia	Flawed democracy	7.03	6.97	7.17	7.10	7.16	7.29	7.29	7.35	7.35	7.35	7.35	7.35	7.33	7.40
	35	Slovenia	Flawed democracy	7.54	7.54	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.51	7.57	7.57	7.88	7.88	7.76	7.69	7.96	7.96
	157	Tajikistan	Authoritarian	1.94	1.94	1.93	1.93	1.93	1.89	1.95	2.37	2.51	2.51	2.51	2.51	2.45	2.45
	161	Turkmenistan	Authoritarian	1.66	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.83	1.83	1.83	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.83
	86	Ukraine	Hybrid regime	5.57	5.81	5.90	5.69	5.69	5.70	5.70	5.42	5.84	5.91	5.94	6.30	6.94	6.94
	150	Uzbekistan	Authoritarian	2.12	2.12	2.01	2.01	1.95	1.95	1.95	2.45	1.72	1.72	1.74	1.74	1.74	1.85
Latin America and the Caribbean	50	Argentina	Flawed democracy	6.81	6.95	7.02	7.02	6.96	6.96	7.02	6.84	6.84	6.84	6.84	6.84	6.63	6.63
	98	Bolivia	Hybrid regime	4.65	5.08	4.84	5.70	5.49	5.63	5.75	5.79	5.79	5.84	5.84	5.92	6.15	5.98
	47	Brazil	Flawed democracy	6.86	6.92	6.86	6.97	6.86	6.90	6.96	7.38	7.12	7.12	7.12	7.12	7.38	7.38
	25	Chile	Flawed democracy	7.92	8.28	8.08	7.97	7.84	7.78	7.84	7.80	7.80	7.54	7.54	7.67	7.89	7.89
	59	Colombia	Flawed democracy	6.48	7.04	7.13	6.96	6.67	6.67	6.62	6.55	6.55	6.63	6.63	6.55	6.54	6.40
	20	Costa Rica	Full democracy	8.07	8.16	8.13	8.07	7.88	7.88	7.96	8.03	8.03	8.10	8.10	8.04	8.04	8.04
	142	Cuba	Authoritarian	2.59	2.84	2.84	3.00	3.31	3.46	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52
	60	Dominican Republic	Flawed democracy	6.45	6.32	6.54	6.54	6.66	6.67	6.67	6.67	6.74	6.49	6.20	6.20	6.20	6.13
	81	Ecuador	Hybrid regime	5.71	6.13	6.33	6.27	6.02	5.81	5.87	5.87	5.87	5.78	5.72	5.77	5.64	5.64
	79	El Salvador	Hybrid regime	5.72	5.90	6.15	5.96	6.43	6.64	6.64	6.53	6.53	6.47	6.47	6.47	6.40	6.22
	99	Guatemala	Hybrid regime	4.62	4.97	5.26	5.60	5.86	5.92	5.92	5.81	5.81	5.88	5.88	6.05	6.07	6.07
	65	Guyana	Flawed democracy	6.25	6.01	6.15	6.67	6.46	6.25	6.05	5.91	6.05	6.05	6.05	6.05	6.12	6.15
	119	Haiti	Authoritarian	3.48	4.22	4.57	4.91	4.03	4.02	3.94	3.82	3.94	3.96	4.00	4.00	4.19	4.19
	92	Honduras	Hybrid regime	5.10	5.36	5.42	5.63	5.72	5.92	5.84	5.84	5.84	5.84	5.84	5.76	6.18	6.25
	42	Jamaica	Flawed democracy	7.13	7.13	6.96	7.02	7.29	7.39	7.39	7.39	7.39	7.39	7.13	7.21	7.21	7.34
	86	Mexico	Hybrid regime	5.57	6.07	6.09	6.19	6.41	6.47	6.55	6.68	6.91	6.90	6.93	6.93	6.78	6.67
	140	Nicaragua	Authoritarian	2.69	3.60	3.55	3.63	4.66	4.81	5.26	5.32	5.46	5.56	5.56	5.73	6.07	5.68
	48	Panama	Flawed democracy	6.85	7.18	7.05	7.05	7.08	7.13	7.19	7.08	7.08	7.08	7.08	7.15	7.35	7.35
	77	Paraguay	Hybrid regime	5.86	6.18	6.24	6.24	6.31	6.27	6.33	6.26	6.26	6.26	6.40	6.40	6.40	6.16
	71	Peru	Flawed democracy	6.09	6.53	6.60	6.60	6.49	6.65	6.58	6.54	6.54	6.47	6.59	6.40	6.31	6.11
	49	Suriname	Flawed democracy	6.82	6.82	6.98	6.98	6.76	6.77	6.77	6.77	6.77	6.65	6.65	6.65	6.58	6.52
	41	Trinidad and Tobago	Flawed democracy	7.16	7.16	7.16	7.16	7.04	7.10	7.10	6.99	6.99	6.99	7.16	7.16	7.21	7.18
	13	Uruguay	Full democracy	8.85	8.61	8.38	8.38	8.12	8.17	8.17	8.17	8.17	8.17	8.17	8.10	8.08	7.96
	151	Venezuela	Authoritarian	2.11	2.76	2.88	3.16	3.87	4.68	5.00	5.07	5.07	5.15	5.08	5.18	5.34	5.42
Asia and Australasia	167	Afghanistan	Authoritarian	0.32	2.85	2.85	2.97	2.55	2.55	2.77	2.77	2.48	2.48	2.48	2.48	3.02	3.06
	9	Australia	Full democracy	8.90	8.96	9.09	9.09	9.09	9.01	9.01	9.01	9.13	9.22	9.22	9.22	9.09	9.09
	75	Bangladesh	Hybrid regime	5.99	5.99	5.88	5.57	5.43	5.73	5.73	5.78	5.86	5.86	5.86	5.87	5.52	6.11
	81	Bhutan	Hybrid regime	5.71	5.71	5.30	5.30	5.08	4.93	4.93	4.87	4.82	4.65	4.57	4.68	4.30	2.62
	134	Cambodia	Authoritarian	2.90	3.10	3.53	3.59	3.63	4.27	4.27	4.78	4.60	4.96	4.87	4.87	4.87	4.77
	148	China	Authoritarian	2.21	2.27	2.26	3.32	3.10	3.18	3.14	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.14	3.14	3.04	2.97
	84	Fiji	Hybrid regime	5.61	5.72	5.85	5.85	5.85	5.64	5.69	5.61	3.61	3.67	3.67	3.62	5.11	5.66
	85	Hong Kong	Hybrid regime	5.60	5.57	6.02	6.15	6.31	6.42	6.50	6.46	6.42	6.42	5.92	5.92	5.85	6.03
	46	India	Flawed democracy	6.91	6.61	6.90	7.23	7.23	7.81	7.74	7.92	7.69	7.52	7.30	7.28	7.80	7.68
	52	Indonesia	Flawed democracy	6.71	6.30	6.48	6.39	6.39	6.97	7.03	6.95	6.82	6.76	6.53	6.53	6.34	6.41
	17	Japan	Full democracy	8.15	8.13	7.99	7.99	7.88	7.99	7.96	8.08	8.08	8.08	8.08	8.08	8.25	8.15
	159	Laos	Authoritarian	1.77	1.77	2.14	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.21	2.21	2.21	2.32	2.10	2.10	2.10	2.10
	39	Malaysia	Flawed democracy	7.24	7.19	7.16	6.88	6.54	6.54	6.43	6.49	6.49	6.41	6.19	6.19	6.36	5.98
	62	Mongolia	Flawed democracy	6.42	6.48	6.50	6.50	6.50	6.62	6.62	6.62	6.51	6.35	6.23	6.36	6.60	6.60
	166	Myanmar	Authoritarian	1.02	3.04	3.55	3.83	3.83	4.20	4.14	3.05	2.76	2.35	1.77	1.77	1.77	1.77
	101	Nepal	Hybrid regime	4.41	5.22	5.28	5.18	5.18	4.86	4.77	4.77	4.77	4.16	4.24	4.24	4.05	3.42
	2	New Zealand	Full democracy	9.37	9.25	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.26	9.19	9.01
	165	North Korea	Authoritarian	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	1.08	0.86	1.03
	104	Pakistan	Hybrid regime	4.31	4.31	4.25	4.17	4.26	4.33	4.40	4.64	4.64	4.57	4.55	4.55	4.46	3.92
	69	Papua New Guinea	Flawed democracy	6.10	6.10	6.03	6.03	6.03	6.03	6.03	6.03	6.36	6.32	6.32	6.54	6.54	6.54
	54	Philippines	Flawed democracy	6.62	6.56	6.64	6.71	6.71	6.94	6.84	6.77	6.41	6.30	6.12	6.12	6.12	6.48
	66	Singapore	Flawed democracy	6.23	6.03	6.02	6.38	6.32	6.38	6.14	6.03	5.92	5.88	5.89	5.89	5.89	5.89
	16	South Korea	Full democracy	8.16	8.01	8.00	8.00	8.00	7.92	7.97	8.06	8.06	8.13	8.06	8.11	8.01	7.88
	67	Sri Lanka	Flawed democracy	6.14	6.14	6.27	6.19	6.48	6.48	6.42	5.69	5.69	5.75	6.58	6.64	6.61	6.58
	8	Taiwan	Full democracy	8.99	8.94	7.73	7.73	7.73	7.79	7.83	7.65	7.57	7.57	7.46	7.52	7.82	7.82
	72	Thailand	Flawed democracy	6.04	6.04	6.32	4.63	4.63	4.92	5.09	5.39	6.25	6.55	6.55	6.55	6.81	5.67
	43	East Timor	Flawed democracy	7.06	7.06	7.19	7.19	7.19	7.24	7.24	7.24	7.24	7.16	7.22	7.22	7.22	6.41
	131	Vietnam	Authoritarian	2.94	2.94	3.08	3.08	3.08	3.38	3.53	3.41	3.29	2.89	2.96	2.94	2.53	2.75
Middle East and North Africa	113	Algeria	Authoritarian	3.77	3.77	4.01	3.50	3.56	3.56	3.95	3.83	3.83	3.83	3.44	3.44	3.32	3.17
	144	Bahrain	Authoritarian	2.52	2.49	2.55	2.71	2.71	2.79	2.79	2.87	2.87	2.53	2.92	3.49	3.38	3.53
	132	Egypt	Authoritarian	2.93	2.93	3.06	3.36	3.36	3.31	3.18	3.16	3.27	4.56	3.95	3.07	3.89	3.90
	154	Iran	Authoritarian	1.95	2.20	2.38	2.45	2.45	2.34	2.16	1.98	1.98	1.98	1.98	1.94	2.83	2.93
	116	Iraq	Authoritarian	3.51	3.62	3.74	4.06	4.09	4.08	4.08	4.23	4.10	4.10	4.03	4.00	4.00	4.01
	23	Israel	Flawed democracy	7.97	7.84	7.86	7.79	7.79	7.85	7.77	7.63	7.53	7.53	7.53	7.48	7.48	7.28
	118	Jordan	Authoritarian	3.49	3.62	3.93	3.93	3.87	3.96	3.86	3.76	3.76	3.76	3.89	3.74	3.93	3.92
	110	Kuwait	Authoritarian	3.91	3.80	3.93	3.85	3.85	3.85	3.85	3.78	3.78	3.78	3.74	3.88	3.39	3.09
	111	Lebanon	Authoritarian	3.84	4.16	4.36	4.63	4.72	4.86	4.86	5.12	5.05	5.05	5.32	5.82	5.62	5.82
	154	Libya	Authoritarian	1.95	1.95	2.02	2.19	2.32	2.25	2.25	3.80	4.82	5.15	3.55	1.94	2.00	1.84
	95	Morocco	Hybrid regime	5.04	5.04	5.10	4.99	4.87	4.77	4.66	4.00	4.07	4.07	3.83	3.79	3.88	3.90
	130	Oman	Authoritarian	3.00	3.00	3.06	3.04	3.04	3.04	3.04	3.15	3.26	3.26	3.26	2.86	2.98	2.77
	109	Palestine	Authoritarian	3.94	3.83	3.89	4.39	4.46	4.49	4.57	4.72	4.80	4.80	4.97	5.44	5.83	6.01
	114	Qatar	Authoritarian	3.65	3.24	3.19	3.19	3.19	3.18	3.18	3.18	3.18	3.18	3.18	3.09	2.92	2.78
	152	Saudi Arabia	Authoritarian	2.08	2.08	1.93	1.93	1.93	1.93	1.93	1.82	1.82	1.71	1.77	1.84	1.90	1.92
	145	Sudan	Authoritarian	2.47	2.54	2.70	2.15	2.15	2.37	2.37	2.54	2.54	2.38	2.38	2.42	2.81	2.90
	162	Syria	Authoritarian	1.43	1.43	1.43	1.43	1.43	1.43	1.43	1.74	1.86	1.63	1.99	2.31	2.18	2.36
	75	Tunisia	Hybrid regime	5.99	6.59	6.72	6.41	6.32	6.40	6.72	6.31	5.76	5.67	5.53	2.79	2.96	3.06
	134	United Arab Emirates	Authoritarian	2.90	2.70	2.76	2.76	2.69	2.75	2.75	2.64	2.52	2.58	2.58	2.52	2.60	2.42
	154	Yemen	Authoritarian	1.95	1.95	1.95	1.95	2.07	2.07	2.24	2.79	2.79	3.12	2.57	2.64	2.95	2.98
Sub-Saharan Africa	122	Angola	Authoritarian	3.37	3.66	3.72	3.62	3.62	3.40	3.35	3.35	3.35	3.35	3.32	3.32	3.35	2.41
	106	Benin	Hybrid regime	4.19	4.58	5.09	5.74	5.61	5.67	5.72	5.65	5.87	6.00	6.06	6.17	6.06	6.16
	30	Botswana	Flawed democracy	7.73	7.62	7.81	7.81	7.81	7.87	7.87	7.87	7.98	7.85	7.63	7.63	7.47	7.60
	111	Burkina Faso	Authoritarian	3.84	3.73	4.04	4.75	4.75	4.70	4.70	4.09	4.15	3.52	3.59	3.59	3.60	3.72
	149	Burundi	Authoritarian	2.13	2.14	2.15	2.33	2.33	2.40	2.49	3.33	3.41	3.60	4.01	4.01	4.51	4.51
	32	Cape Verde	Flawed democracy	7.65	7.65	7.78	7.88	7.88	7.94	7.81	7.81	7.92	7.92	7.92	7.94	7.81	7.43
	143	Cameroon	Authoritarian	2.56	2.77	2.85	3.28	3.61	3.46	3.66	3.41	3.41	3.44	3.41	3.41	3.46	3.27
	162	Central African Republic	Authoritarian	1.43	1.32	1.32	1.52	1.52	1.61	1.57	1.49	1.49	1.99	1.82	1.82	1.86	1.61
	160	Chad	Authoritarian	1.67	1.55	1.61	1.61	1.50	1.50	1.50	1.50	1.50	1.62	1.62	1.52	1.52	1.65
	126	Comoros	Authoritarian	3.20	3.09	3.15	3.71	3.71	3.71	3.71	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.52	3.41	3.58	3.90
	137	Republic of the Congo	Authoritarian	2.79	3.11	3.11	3.31	3.25	2.91	2.91	2.89	2.89	2.89	2.89	2.89	2.94	3.19
	105	Ivory Coast	Hybrid regime	4.22	4.11	4.05	4.15	3.93	3.81	3.31	3.53	3.25	3.25	3.08	3.02	3.27	3.38
	164	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Authoritarian	1.40	1.13	1.13	1.49	1.61	1.93	2.11	1.75	1.83	1.92	2.15	2.15	2.28	2.76
	139	Djibouti	Authoritarian	2.74	2.71	2.77	2.87	2.76	2.83	2.90	2.99	2.96	2.74	2.68	2.20	2.37	2.37
	158	Equatorial Guinea	Authoritarian	1.92	1.92	1.92	1.92	1.81	1.70	1.77	1.66	1.77	1.83	1.77	1.84	2.19	2.09
	153	Eritrea	Authoritarian	2.03	2.15	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.44	2.40	2.40	2.34	2.31	2.31	2.31
	128	Eswatini	Authoritarian	3.08	3.08	3.14	3.03	3.03	3.03	3.09	3.09	3.20	3.20	3.26	2.90	3.04	2.93
	123	Ethiopia	Authoritarian	3.30	3.38	3.44	3.35	3.42	3.60	3.83	3.72	3.83	3.72	3.79	3.68	4.52	4.72
	121	Gabon	Authoritarian	3.40	3.54	3.61	3.61	3.61	3.74	3.76	3.76	3.76	3.56	3.48	3.29	3.00	2.72
	101	Gambia	Hybrid regime	4.41	4.49	4.33	4.31	4.06	2.91	2.97	3.05	3.31	3.31	3.38	3.38	4.19	4.39
	56	Ghana	Flawed democracy	6.50	6.50	6.63	6.63	6.69	6.75	6.86	6.33	6.33	6.02	6.02	6.02	5.35	5.35
	147	Guinea	Authoritarian	2.28	3.08	3.14	3.14	3.14	3.14	3.14	3.01	2.84	2.79	2.79	2.79	2.09	2.02
	138	Guinea-Bissau	Authoritarian	2.75	2.63	2.63	1.98	1.98	1.98	1.93	1.93	1.26	1.43	1.99	1.99	1.99	2.00
	94	Kenya	Hybrid regime	5.05	5.05	5.18	5.11	5.11	5.33	5.33	5.13	5.13	4.71	4.71	4.71	4.79	5.08
	64	Lesotho	Flawed democracy	6.30	6.30	6.54	6.64	6.64	6.59	6.59	6.66	6.66	6.66	6.33	6.02	6.29	6.48
	90	Liberia	Hybrid regime	5.43	5.32	5.45	5.35	5.23	5.31	4.95	4.95	4.95	4.95	5.07	5.07	5.25	5.22
	83	Madagascar	Hybrid regime	5.70	5.70	5.64	5.22	5.11	5.07	4.85	4.42	4.32	3.93	3.93	3.94	5.57	5.82
	78	Malawi	Hybrid regime	5.74	5.74	5.50	5.49	5.49	5.55	5.55	5.66	6.00	6.08	5.84	5.84	5.13	4.97
	119	Mali	Authoritarian	3.48	3.93	4.92	5.41	5.64	5.70	5.70	5.79	5.90	5.12	6.36	6.01	5.87	5.99
	108	Mauritania	Hybrid regime	4.03	3.92	3.92	3.82	3.82	3.96	3.96	4.17	4.17	4.17	4.17	3.86	3.91	3.12
	19	Mauritius	Full democracy	8.08	8.14	8.22	8.22	8.22	8.28	8.27	8.17	8.17	8.17	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04
	116	Mozambique	Authoritarian	3.51	3.51	3.65	3.85	4.02	4.02	4.60	4.66	4.77	4.88	4.90	4.90	5.49	5.28
	55	Namibia	Flawed democracy	6.52	6.52	6.43	6.25	6.31	6.31	6.31	6.24	6.24	6.24	6.24	6.23	6.48	6.54
	125	Niger	Authoritarian	3.22	3.29	3.29	3.76	3.76	3.96	4.62	4.02	4.08	4.16	4.16	3.38	3.41	3.54
	107	Nigeria	Hybrid regime	4.11	4.10	4.12	4.44	4.44	4.50	3.85	3.76	3.77	3.77	3.83	3.47	3.53	3.52
	127	Rwanda	Authoritarian	3.10	3.10	3.16	3.35	3.19	3.07	3.07	3.25	3.38	3.36	3.25	3.25	3.71	3.82
	88	Senegal	Hybrid regime	5.53	5.67	5.81	6.15	6.15	6.21	6.08	6.15	6.15	6.09	5.51	5.27	5.37	5.37
	97	Sierra Leone	Hybrid regime	4.97	4.86	4.86	4.66	4.66	4.55	4.55	4.56	4.64	4.71	4.51	4.51	4.11	3.57
	44	South Africa	Flawed democracy	7.05	7.05	7.24	7.24	7.24	7.41	7.56	7.82	7.90	7.79	7.79	7.79	7.91	7.91
	92	Tanzania	Hybrid regime	5.10	5.10	5.16	5.41	5.47	5.76	5.58	5.77	5.77	5.88	5.64	5.64	5.28	5.18
	136	Togo	Authoritarian	2.80	2.80	3.30	3.10	3.05	3.32	3.41	3.45	3.45	3.45	3.45	3.45	2.43	1.75
	100	Uganda	Hybrid regime	4.48	4.94	5.02	5.20	5.09	5.26	5.22	5.22	5.22	5.16	5.13	5.05	5.03	5.14
	79	Zambia	Hybrid regime	5.72	4.86	5.09	5.61	5.68	5.99	6.28	6.39	6.26	6.26	6.19	5.68	5.25	5.25
	133	Zimbabwe	Authoritarian	2.92	3.16	3.16	3.16	3.16	3.05	3.05	2.78	2.67	2.67	2.68	2.64	2.53	2.62

Components

The following table shows the five parameters that made up the score of each nation in 2021 and the changes that had occurred since 2020.

Year 2021
Rank	Δ Rank	Country	Regime type	Overall score	Δ Score	Electoral process and pluralism	Functioning of government	Political participation	Political culture	Civil liberties

Full democracies
1		Norway	Full democracy	9.75	0.06	10.00	9.64	10.00	10.00	9.12
2	2	New Zealand	Full democracy	9.37	0.12	10.00	8.93	9.44	8.75	9.71
3	3	Finland	Full democracy	9.27	0.07	10.00	9.29	8.89	8.75	9.41
4	1	Sweden	Full democracy	9.26		9.58	9.29	8.33	10.00	9.12
5	3	Iceland	Full democracy	9.18	0.19	10.00	8.21	8.89	9.38	9.41
6	1	Denmark	Full democracy	9.09	0.06	10.00	8.93	8.33	9.38	8.82
7	1	Ireland	Full democracy	9.00	0.05	10.00	7.86	8.33	9.38	9.41
8	3	Taiwan	Full democracy	8.99	0.05	10.00	9.64	7.78	8.13	9.41
9		Australia	Full democracy	8.90	0.06	10.00	8.57	7.78	8.75	9.41
9	2	Switzerland	Full democracy	8.90	0.07	9.58	8.93	7.78	9.38	8.82
11	1	Netherlands	Full democracy	8.88	0.08	9.58	8.93	8.33	8.75	8.82
12	7	Canada	Full democracy	8.87	0.37	10.00	8.21	8.89	8.13	9.12
13	2	Uruguay	Full democracy	8.85	0.24	10.00	8.57	7.22	8.75	9.71
14	1	Luxembourg	Full democracy	8.68		10.00	8.57	6.67	8.75	9.41
15	1	Germany	Full democracy	8.67		9.58	8.21	8.33	8.13	9.12
16	7	South Korea	Full democracy	8.16	0.15	9.58	8.57	7.22	7.50	7.94
17	3	Japan	Full democracy	8.15	0.02	9.17	8.57	6.67	8.13	8.24
18	2	United Kingdom	Full democracy	8.10	0.44	9.58	7.50	8.33	6.25	8.82
19	2	Mauritius	Full democracy	8.08	0.06	9.17	7.86	6.11	8.75	8.53
20	2	Austria	Full democracy	8.07	0.09	9.58	6.79	8.89	6.88	8.24
20	2	Costa Rica	Full democracy	8.07	0.09	9.58	6.43	7.78	6.88	9.71
Flawed democracies
22	2	France	Flawed democracy	7.99		9.58	7.50	7.78	6.88	8.24
23	4	Israel	Flawed democracy	7.97	0.13	9.58	7.50	10.00	6.88	5.88
24	2	Spain	Flawed democracy	7.94	0.18	9.58	7.14	7.22	7.50	8.24
25	8	Chile	Flawed democracy	7.92	0.36	9.58	7.86	5.56	7.50	9.12
26	1	United States	Flawed democracy	7.85	0.07	9.17	6.43	8.89	6.25	8.53
27		Estonia	Flawed democracy	7.84		9.58	7.86	6.67	6.88	8.24
28	2	Portugal	Flawed democracy	7.82	0.08	9.58	7.14	6.67	6.88	8.82
29	1	Czech Republic	Flawed democracy	7.74	0.07	9.58	6.43	6.67	7.50	8.53
30	3	Botswana	Flawed democracy	7.73	0.11	9.17	6.79	6.67	7.50	8.53
31	2	Italy	Flawed democracy	7.68	0.06	9.58	6.43	7.22	7.50	7.65
32		Cape Verde	Flawed democracy	7.65	0.13	9.17	7.00	6.67	6.88	8.53
33	3	Malta	Flawed democracy	7.57	0.11	9.17	6.79	5.56	8.13	8.24
34	2	Greece	Flawed democracy	7.56	0.17	9.58	6.07	6.11	7.50	8.53
35		Slovenia	Flawed democracy	7.54	0.04	9.58	6.43	7.22	6.25	8.24
36		Belgium	Flawed democracy	7.51		9.58	7.86	5.00	6.88	8.24
37	3	Cyprus	Flawed democracy	7.43	0.13	9.17	5.36	7.22	6.88	8.53
38		Latvia	Flawed democracy	7.31	0.07	9.58	6.07	6.11	6.25	8.53
39	4	Malaysia	Flawed democracy	7.24	0.05	9.58	7.86	7.22	6.25	5.29
40	3	Lithuania	Flawed democracy	7.18	0.05	9.58	6.07	6.11	5.63	8.53
41		Trinidad and Tobago	Flawed democracy	7.16		9.58	7.14	6.11	5.63	7.35
42		Jamaica	Flawed democracy	7.13		8.75	7.14	5.00	6.25	8.53
43	1	East Timor	Flawed democracy	7.06		9.58	5.93	5.56	6.88	7.35
44	1	South Africa	Flawed democracy	7.05		7.42	7.14	8.33	5.00	7.35
45	2	Slovakia	Flawed democracy	7.03	0.06	9.58	6.43	5.56	5.63	7.94
46	7	India	Flawed democracy	6.91	0.30	8.67	7.50	7.22	5.00	6.18
47	2	Brazil	Flawed democracy	6.86	0.06	9.58	5.36	6.11	5.63	7.65
48	8	Panama	Flawed democracy	6.85	0.33	9.58	6.07	7.22	3.75	7.65
49	2	Suriname	Flawed democracy	6.82	0.03	9.58	6.07	6.11	5.00	7.35
50	2	Argentina	Flawed democracy	6.81	0.14	9.17	5.00	7.22	5.00	7.65
51	1	Poland	Flawed democracy	6.80	0.05	9.17	6.07	6.67	5.63	6.47
52	13	Indonesia	Flawed democracy	6.71	0.41	7.92	7.86	7.22	4.38	6.18
53	1	Bulgaria	Flawed democracy	6.64	0.07	9.17	5.36	7.22	4.38	7.06
54	1	Philippines	Flawed democracy	6.62	0.06	9.17	5.00	7.78	4.38	6.76
55	3	Namibia	Flawed democracy	6.52		7.00	5.36	6.67	5.63	7.94
56	3	Croatia	Flawed democracy	6.50		9.17	6.07	6.11	4.38	6.76
56	3	Ghana	Flawed democracy	6.50		8.33	5.36	6.67	6.25	5.88
56	2	Hungary	Flawed democracy	6.50	0.06	8.33	6.43	5.00	6.25	6.47
59	13	Colombia	Flawed democracy	6.48	0.56	9.17	5.71	6.11	3.75	7.65
60	3	Dominican Republic	Flawed democracy	6.45	0.12	9.17	5.00	6.67	4.38	7.06
61	1	Romania	Flawed democracy	6.43	0.03	9.17	6.07	6.11	3.75	7.06
62	1	Mongolia	Flawed democracy	6.42	0.06	8.75	5.71	6.11	5.63	5.88
63	3	Serbia	Flawed democracy	6.36	0.14	8.25	6.07	6.67	3.75	7.06
64		Lesotho	Flawed democracy	6.30		9.17	4.14	6.11	5.63	6.47
65	10	Guyana	Flawed democracy	6.25	0.24	6.92	6.07	5.56	5.63	7.06
66	8	Singapore	Flawed democracy	6.23	0.20	4.83	8.21	4.44	7.50	6.18
67	1	Sri Lanka	Flawed democracy	6.14		7.00	5.71	5.56	6.25	6.18
68	3	Albania	Flawed democracy	6.11	0.03	7.00	6.43	4.44	5.63	7.06
69	11	Moldova	Flawed democracy	6.10	0.32	7.00	5.71	6.67	4.38	6.76
69	4	Papua New Guinea	Flawed democracy	6.10	0.07	6.92	6.07	3.89	6.25	7.35
71	14	Peru	Flawed democracy	6.09	0.44	8.75	5.36	5.56	3.75	7.06
72		Thailand	Flawed democracy	6.04		7.00	5.00	6.67	6.25	5.29
73	5	North Macedonia	Flawed democracy	6.03	0.14	7.42	6.43	6.11	3.13	7.06
74	7	Montenegro	Flawed democracy	6.02	0.25	7.42	6.43	6.67	3.13	6.47
Hybrid regimes
75	1	Bangladesh	Hybrid regime	5.99		7.42	6.07	5.56	5.63	5.29
75	21	Tunisia	Hybrid regime	5.99	0.60	7.50	4.64	7.22	5.00	5.59
77	10	Paraguay	Hybrid regime	5.86	0.32	8.75	5.36	5.00	3.13	7.06
78	4	Malawi	Hybrid regime	5.74		7.00	4.29	5.00	6.25	6.18
79	6	El Salvador	Hybrid regime	5.72	0.18	9.17	3.93	5.56	3.75	6.18
79	20	Zambia	Hybrid regime	5.72	0.63	7.50	3.64	5.00	6.88	5.59
81	3	Bhutan	Hybrid regime	5.71		8.75	6.79	3.33	5.00	4.71
81	12	Ecuador	Hybrid regime	5.71	0.42	8.75	5.00	6.11	2.50	6.18
83		Madagascar	Hybrid regime	5.70		7.92	3.57	6.67	5.63	4.71
84	1	Fiji	Hybrid regime	5.61	0.11	6.58	5.00	5.56	5.63	5.29
85	2	Hong Kong	Hybrid regime	5.60	0.03	2.75	3.64	5.56	7.50	8.53
86	14	Mexico	Hybrid regime	5.57	0.50	6.92	5.00	7.22	3.13	5.59
86	9	Ukraine	Hybrid regime	5.57	0.24	8.25	2.36	6.67	5.00	5.59
88	2	Senegal	Hybrid regime	5.53	0.14	5.67	5.71	4.44	6.25	5.59
89		Armenia	Hybrid regime	5.49	0.14	7.50	5.71	6.11	3.13	5.00
90		Liberia	Hybrid regime	5.43	0.11	7.42	2.71	6.11	5.63	5.29
91		Georgia	Hybrid regime	5.12	0.19	7.42	3.57	5.56	3.75	5.29
92	4	Honduras	Hybrid regime	5.10	0.26	8.75	3.93	4.44	2.50	5.88
93		Tanzania	Hybrid regime	5.10		4.83	5.00	5.00	6.25	4.41
94		Kenya	Hybrid regime	5.05		3.50	5.36	6.67	5.63	4.12
95	6	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hybrid regime	5.04	0.20	7.00	3.29	5.56	3.75	5.59
95		Morocco	Hybrid regime	5.04		5.25	4.64	5.56	5.63	4.12
97	3	Sierra Leone	Hybrid regime	4.97	0.11	6.58	2.86	3.89	6.25	5.29
98	4	Bolivia	Hybrid regime	4.65	0.43	4.75	4.29	6.11	2.50	5.59
99	2	Guatemala	Hybrid regime	4.62	0.35	6.92	3.93	3.89	2.50	5.88
100	2	Uganda	Hybrid regime	4.48	0.46	3.42	3.21	3.89	6.88	5.00
101	2	Gambia	Hybrid regime	4.41	0.08	3.58	4.29	4.44	5.63	4.12
101	10	Nepal	Hybrid regime	4.41	0.81	4.83	5.00	4.44	2.50	5.29
103	1	Turkey	Hybrid regime	4.35	0.13	3.50	5.00	5.56	5.63	2.06
104	1	Pakistan	Hybrid regime	4.31		5.67	5.36	3.33	2.50	4.71
105	4	Ivory Coast	Hybrid regime	4.22	0.11	4.33	2.86	4.44	5.63	3.82
106	5	Benin	Hybrid regime	4.19	0.39	1.67	5.36	3.89	5.63	4.41
107	2	Nigeria	Hybrid regime	4.11	0.01	5.17	3.93	3.89	3.75	3.82
108	4	Mauritania	Hybrid regime	4.03	0.11	3.50	3.57	5.56	3.13	4.41
Authoritarian regimes
109	4	Palestine	Authoritarian	3.94	0.11	3.33	0.14	8.33	4.38	3.53
110	4	Kuwait	Authoritarian	3.91	0.11	3.58	3.93	4.44	4.38	3.24
111	4	Burkina Faso	Authoritarian	3.84	0.11	3.00	2.36	5.00	5.00	3.82
111	4	Lebanon	Authoritarian	3.84	0.32	3.50	1.14	6.67	3.75	4.12
113	2	Algeria	Authoritarian	3.77		3.08	2.50	4.44	5.00	3.82
114	12	Qatar	Authoritarian	3.65	0.41	1.50	4.29	3.33	5.63	3.53
115	8	Kyrgyzstan	Authoritarian	3.62	0.59	4.33	1.50	4.44	3.13	4.71
116	2	Iraq	Authoritarian	3.51	0.11	5.25	0.00	6.11	5.00	1.18
116	5	Mozambique	Authoritarian	3.51		2.58	1.43	5.00	5.00	3.53
118	1	Jordan	Authoritarian	3.49	0.13	2.67	3.93	3.89	3.75	3.24
119	13	Haiti	Authoritarian	3.48	0.74	3.08	0.00	2.78	6.25	5.29
119	9	Mali	Authoritarian	3.48	0.45	2.42	0.00	5.56	5.63	3.82
121		Gabon	Authoritarian	3.40	0.14	2.17	1.86	4.44	5.00	3.53
122	5	Angola	Authoritarian	3.37	0.29	1.33	2.86	5.00	5.00	2.65
123		Ethiopia	Authoritarian	3.30	0.08	0.42	3.21	6.11	5.00	1.76
124		Russia	Authoritarian	3.24	0.07	1.75	2.14	4.44	3.75	4.12
125		Niger	Authoritarian	3.22	0.07	2.00	1.14	3.89	4.38	4.71
126	6	Comoros	Authoritarian	3.20	0.11	2.08	2.21	4.44	3.75	3.53
127	2	Rwanda	Authoritarian	3.10		1.42	4.29	2.78	4.38	2.65
128		Eswatini	Authoritarian	3.08		0.92	2.86	2.78	5.63	3.24
128		Kazakhstan	Authoritarian	3.08	0.06	0.50	3.21	5.00	3.75	2.94
130	6	Oman	Authoritarian	3.00		0.08	3.93	2.78	4.38	3.82
131	6	Vietnam	Authoritarian	2.94		0.00	2.86	3.89	5.63	2.35
132	6	Egypt	Authoritarian	2.93		1.33	3.21	3.33	5.00	1.76
133	6	Zimbabwe	Authoritarian	2.92	0.24	0.00	2.50	3.89	5.00	3.24
134	4	Cambodia	Authoritarian	2.90	0.20	0.00	3.21	3.89	5.63	1.76
134	10	United Arab Emirates	Authoritarian	2.90	0.20	0.00	4.29	2.22	5.63	2.35
136	5	Togo	Authoritarian	2.80		0.92	1.79	3.33	5.00	2.94
137	8	Republic of the Congo	Authoritarian	2.79	0.32	0.00	2.50	4.44	3.75	3.24
138	9	Guinea-Bissau	Authoritarian	2.75	0.12	4.92	0.00	3.33	3.13	2.35
139	5	Djibouti	Authoritarian	2.74	0.03	0.00	1.29	4.44	5.63	2.35
140	20	Nicaragua	Authoritarian	2.69	0.91	0.00	2.50	3.33	4.38	3.24
141	5	Azerbaijan	Authoritarian	2.68		0.50	2.50	2.78	5.00	2.65
142	2	Cuba	Authoritarian	2.59	0.25	0.00	3.21	3.33	3.75	2.65
143	1	Cameroon	Authoritarian	2.56	0.21	0.33	2.14	3.89	4.38	2.06
144	6	Bahrain	Authoritarian	2.52	0.03	0.42	2.71	3.33	4.38	1.76
145	4	Sudan	Authoritarian	2.47	0.07	0.00	1.43	4.44	5.00	1.47
146	2	Belarus	Authoritarian	2.41	0.18	0.00	2.00	3.89	4.38	1.76
147	13	Guinea	Authoritarian	2.28	0.80	1.25	0.43	3.33	3.75	2.65
148	3	China	Authoritarian	2.21	0.06	0.00	4.29	2.78	3.13	0.88
149	5	Burundi	Authoritarian	2.13	0.01	0.00	0.00	3.89	5.00	1.76
150	5	Uzbekistan	Authoritarian	2.12		0.08	1.86	2.78	5.00	0.88
151	8	Venezuela	Authoritarian	2.11	0.65	0.00	1.79	3.89	2.50	2.35
152		Saudi Arabia	Authoritarian	2.08		0.00	3.57	2.22	3.13	1.47
153		Eritrea	Authoritarian	2.03	0.12	0.00	2.14	0.56	6.88	0.59
154	3	Libya	Authoritarian	1.95		0.00	0.00	3.33	3.75	2.65
154	1	Iran	Authoritarian	1.95	0.25	0.00	2.50	3.89	1.88	1.47
154		Yemen	Authoritarian	1.95		0.00	0.00	3.89	5.00	0.88
157	2	Tajikistan	Authoritarian	1.94		0.00	2.21	2.22	4.38	0.88
158	2	Equatorial Guinea	Authoritarian	1.92		0.00	0.43	3.33	4.38	1.47
159	2	Laos	Authoritarian	1.77		0.00	2.86	1.67	3.75	0.59
160	1	Chad	Authoritarian	1.67	0.12	0.00	0.00	2.22	3.75	2.35
161	1	Turkmenistan	Authoritarian	1.66	0.06	0.00	0.79	2.22	5.00	0.29
162	2	Syria	Authoritarian	1.43		0.00	0.00	2.78	4.38	0.00
162	2	Central African Republic	Authoritarian	1.43	0.11	1.25	0.00	1.67	1.88	2.35
164	2	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Authoritarian	1.40	0.27	0.75	0.00	2.22	3.13	0.88
165	2	North Korea	Authoritarian	1.08		0.00	2.50	1.67	1.25	0.00
166	31	Myanmar	Authoritarian	1.02	2.04	0.00	0.00	1.67	3.13	0.29
167	28	Afghanistan	Authoritarian	0.32	2.53	0.00	0.07	0.00	1.25	0.29

Recent changes

In 2016, the United States was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy;[7] its score, which had been declining for some years, crossed the threshold from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.98 in 2016. The report stated that this was caused by myriad factors dating back to at least the late 1960s which have eroded Americans' trust in governmental institutions.[8][9]

The 2017 Democracy Index registered, at the time, the worst year for global democracy since 2010–11. Asia was the region with the largest decline since 2016. Venezuela was downgraded from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. In China, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), further entrenched his power by writing his contribution to the CCP's ideology, dubbed Xi Jinping Thought, into the party's constitution. Moldova was downgraded from a flawed democracy to a hybrid regime as a result of problematic elections. By contrast, Armenia was re-upgraded from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime as a result of constitutional changes that shifted power from the presidency to parliament.[10] In 2017, the Gambia was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime after Yahya Jammeh, who was president from 1996 to 2017, was defeated by Adama Barrow, an opposition candidate in the 2016 presidential elections.

In 2019, France, Portugal and Chile were upgraded from flawed democracies to full democracies. In fact, this was not a new experience for the former two, which suffered from the eurozone crisis many years before. By contrast, Malta was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy. Thailand and Albania were upgraded from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies.[11] Algeria was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime.

In 2020, Taiwan was upgraded from flawed democracy to full democracy following reforms in the judiciary,[12] and soared to 11th position from its previous position at 33. Japan and South Korea were also upgraded again to a full democracy, while France and Portugal were once again relegated to flawed democracies. Hong Kong was downgraded from a flawed democracy to a hybrid regime. Algeria was downgraded again from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that democracy "was dealt a major blow in 2020".[13] Almost 70% of countries covered by the Democracy Index recorded a decline in their overall score, as most of them imposed lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to some arresting journalists and citizens accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The global average score fell to its lowest level since the index began in 2006.

In 2021, both the global and regional average scores continued downward trends, with the exception of the Central and Eastern Europe region. Spain and Chile were downgraded from full democracies to flawed democracies, while Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Tunisia were downgraded from flawed democracies to hybrid regimes. Haiti, Lebanon, and Kyrgyzstan were downgraded from hybrid regimes to authoritarian regimes. In addition, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia were upgraded from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies, whereas Mauritania was upgraded from authoritarian to hybrid regime. For the first time, two countries displaced North Korea as the lowest-ranked states in the Democracy Index. In Myanmar, the elected government was overthrown in a military coup, and protests were suppressed by the junta; thus, its score went down by 2.02 points. Afghanistan, as a result of the 2021 Taliban offensive and subsequent takeover of government, registered the lowest score of any state ever recorded on the Democracy Index at 0.32.

Criticism

Investment analyst Peter Tasker has criticised the Democracy Index for lacking transparency and accountability beyond the numbers. To generate the index, the Economist Intelligence Unit has a scoring system in which various experts are asked to answer 60 questions and assign each reply a number, with the weighted average deciding the ranking. However, the final report does not indicate what kinds of experts, nor their number, nor whether the experts are employees of the Economist Intelligence Unit or independent scholars, nor the nationalities of the experts.[14]

References

"Democracy Index 2012: Democracy at a standstill" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 14 March 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
"Democracy Index 2010: Democracy in retreat" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 6 December 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
"Democracy Index 2006" (PDF). The World in 2007. 15 November 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
Manaev, Oleg; Manayeva, Natalie; Dzmitry, Yuran (1 December 2011). "More State than Nation: Lukashenko's Belarus". Journal of International Affairs. 65 (1): 93–113. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
"Democracy Index 2015: Democracy in an age of anxiety" (PDF). The Economist Intelligence Unit. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
"Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit.
Karlis, Nicole (31 January 2018). "New report classifies US as a "flawed democracy" - Partisanship and Trump were to blame for the US's dismal ranking in the Economist's annual Democracy Index report". Salon. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
Eshe Nelson (25 January 2017). "The US has been downgraded to a "flawed democracy," but not just because of Trump". Qz.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
"Declining trust in government is denting democracy". The Economist. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
"Democracy Index 2017: Free speech under attack". eiu.com. The Economist Intelligence Unit. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
"Democracy Index 2019 A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest". EIU.com. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
"Taiwan most democratic country in East Asia: The Economist". 3 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
"Democracy Index 2020: In sickness and in health?". EIU.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
Tasker, Peter (25 February 2016). "Peter Tasker: The flawed 'science' behind democracy rankings". asia.nikkei.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2019-02-22.

External links

EIU Democracy Index main page

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[index2012-1] "Democracy Index 2012: Democracy at a standstill" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 14 March 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

[index2010-2] "Democracy Index 2010: Democracy in retreat" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 6 December 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

[index2006-3] "Democracy Index 2006" (PDF). The World in 2007. 15 November 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

[a3-4] Manaev, Oleg; Manayeva, Natalie; Dzmitry, Yuran (1 December 2011). "More State than Nation: Lukashenko's Belarus". Journal of International Affairs. 65 (1): 93–113. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

[index2015-5] "Democracy Index 2015: Democracy in an age of anxiety" (PDF). The Economist Intelligence Unit. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

[6] "Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit.

[SLN-20180131-7] Karlis, Nicole (31 January 2018). "New report classifies US as a "flawed democracy" - Partisanship and Trump were to blame for the US's dismal ranking in the Economist's annual Democracy Index report". Salon. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.

[a1-8] Eshe Nelson (25 January 2017). "The US has been downgraded to a "flawed democracy," but not just because of Trump". Qz.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

[a2-9] "Declining trust in government is denting democracy". The Economist. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.

[index2017-10] "Democracy Index 2017: Free speech under attack". eiu.com. The Economist Intelligence Unit. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.

[index2019-11] "Democracy Index 2019 A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest". EIU.com. Retrieved 24 January 2020.

[12] "Taiwan most democratic country in East Asia: The Economist". 3 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.

[index2020-13] "Democracy Index 2020: In sickness and in health?". EIU.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[criticism1-14] Tasker, Peter (25 February 2016). "Peter Tasker: The flawed 'science' behind democracy rankings". asia.nikkei.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2019-02-22.

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