I don’t know if the Tribbers will have much energy to discuss the linked article on a day like this. But I thought that it should be brought to everyone’s attention.
The Economist’s Intelligence Unit has just published an article (pdf) on ‘how democratic’ various nations are:
Defining and measuring democracy
There is no consensus on how to measure democracy, defi nitions of democracy are contested and there is an ongoing lively debate on the subject. The issue is not only of academic interest. For example, although democracy-promotion is high on the list of American
foreign-policy priorities, there is no consensus within
the American government on what constitutes a democracy.
As one observer recently put it, “the world’s
only superpower is rhetorically and militarily promoting
a political system that remains undefi ned–and it
is staking its credibility and treasure on that pursuit”
(Horowitz, 2006, p 114).
The Economist Intelligence Unit has developed an index based on 60 indicators, broadly grouped in the 5 following categories:
- free and fair competitive elections
- civil liberties
- political culture
- functioning of government
- participation
The methodology is fully explained at the end of the linked article. A total of 167 countries were evaluated (micro-states were not included) against all the indicators. The ranked countries were divided into the below groups:
- Full Democracies (the top 28 countries)
- Flawed Democracies (the following 54 countries)
- Hybrid Regimes (30 countries)
- Authoritarian Regimes (53 countries)
It is worth noting that the 5 Nordic countries + Netherlands (also a welfare state) block out the top 6 spots. The US is 17th, the UK is 23rd, France is 24th. Italy is 34th, in the “Flawed Democracies” group!
Here’s the ranking of all the “Full Democracies” (doubt that the table will reproduce well):
Economist Intelligence Unit democracy index 2006
Category scores
Overall I Electoral process II Functioning of Government III Political Participation IV Political Culture V Civil Liberties VI
Full democracies I II III IV V VI
Sweden 1 9.88 10.00 10.00 10.00 9.38 10.00
Iceland 2 9.71 10.00 9.64 8.89 10.00 10.00
Netherlands 3 9.66 9.58 9.29 9.44 10.00 10.00
Norway 4 9.55 10.00 9.64 10.00 8.13 10.00
Denmark 5 9.52 10.00 9.64 8.89 9.38 9.71
Finland 6 9.25 10.00 10.00 7.78 8.75 9.71
Luxembourg 7 9.10 10.00 9.29 7.78 8.75 9.71
Australia 8 9.09 10.00 8.93 7.78 8.75 10.00
Canada 9 9.07 9.17 9.64 7.78 8.75 10.00
Switzerland 10 9.02 9.58 9.29 7.78 8.75 9.71
Ireland 11= 9.01 9.58 8.93 7.78 8.75 10.00
New Zealand 11= 9.01 10.00 8.57 8.33 8.13 10.00
Germany 13 8.82 9.58 8.57 7.78 8.75 9.41
Austria 14 8.69 9.58 8.21 7.78 8.75 9.12
Malta 15 8.39 9.17 8.21 6.11 8.75 9.71
Spain 16 8.34 9.58 7.86 6.11 8.75 9.41
US 17 8.22 8.75 7.86 7.22 8.75 8.53
Czech Republic 18 8.17 9.58 6.79 7.22 8.13 9.12
Portugal 19 8.16 9.58 8.21 6.11 7.50 9.41
Belgium 20= 8.15 9.58 8.21 6.67 6.88 9.41
Japan 20= 8.15 9.17 7.86 5.56 8.75 9.41
Greece 22 8.13 9.58 7.50 6.67 7.50 9.41
UK 23 8.08 9.58 8.57 5.00 8.13 9.12
France 24 8.07 9.58 7.50 6.67 7.50 9.12
Mauritius 25= 8.04 9.17 8.21 5.00 8.13 9.71
Costa Rica 25= 8.04 9.58 8.21 6.11 6.88 9.41
Slovenia 27= 7.96 9.58 7.86 6.67 6.88 8.82
Uruguay 27= 7.96 10.00 8.21 5.00 6.88 9.71
It seems that the US scores comparatively low primarily because of low political participation. The score is also low on civil liberties. Not a good combination.
So there we have it.
Are we all focused on turkey today?
