Democracy Index

The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy index map for 2015.
Greener colours represent more democratic countries.

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the UK based Economist Intelligence Unit, that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states. 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 countries as one of four regime types full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes.

The index was first produced for 2006, with updates for 2008, 2010 and the following years since then. The earlier versions are fully open access, the 2015 document requires registration.

Method

As described in the report,^[1] the democracy index is a weighted average based on the answers of 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted alternative answers. Most answers are "experts' assessments"; the 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. 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 distributed in the five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. Each answer is translated to a mark, either 0 or 1, or for the three-answer alternative questions, 0.5. With the exceptions mentioned below, the sums are added within each category, 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 marked 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:

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

The four category indices, which are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the democracy index for a given country. Finally, the democracy index, rounded to one decimal, 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 has been put on the public opinion and attitudes, as measured by surveys, but on the other hand, economic living standard has not been 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]

Classification definitions

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

Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free, but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement), and basic civil liberties are honored. Nonetheless, 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.

Hybrid regimes are nations where consequential irregularities exist in elections regularly preventing them from being fair and free. These nations commonly have governments which apply pressure on political opponents, non independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anemic 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.

Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism has vanished or is extremely limited. These nations are often absolute dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy- but with meager significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections- if they take place- are not fair and free, the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and the presence of omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism.

Changes from 2010 onwards

According to the issue of the index for 2012, Norway scored a total of 9.93 on a scale from zero to ten, keeping the first-place position it has held since 2010, when it replaced Sweden as the highest-ranked country in the index. North Korea scored the lowest with 1.08, remaining at the bottom in 167th place, the same as in 2010 and 2011.^[1]

There was no significant improvement or regression in democracy between 2011 and 2012. In 2012 the index score stayed the same for 73 out of 167 countries, improved for 54 countries, and declined for 40. Libya experienced the biggest increase of any country in its score in 2012. Average regional scores in 2012 were very similar to scores in 2011. An exception is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where the average score increased by more than a tenth of a point, from 3.62 to 3.73 and three countries moved from authoritarian to hybrid regimes (Egypt, Libya, Morocco).^[1]

The Democracy Index for 2011 highlighted the impact of the Arab Spring and the greater effects it might have, as well as the impact of the global financial crisis in 2007–08 on politics throughout most of Europe. The Democracy Index score was lower in 2011 than in 2010 in 48 countries out of the 167 that are covered. It was higher in 41 ranked countries, and it stayed the same in 78.^[5]

In nine countries there was a change in regime type between 2010 and 2011; in four of these there was regression. Russia was downgraded from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime, which the report attributes to concerns over the December 4 legislative election and Vladimir Putin's decision to run again in the 2012 presidential election. Portugal was also downgraded to the flawed democracy category, attributed to the effects of the global financial crisis. Tunisia, Mauritania, Egypt, and Niger were all upgraded to hybrid regimes, and Zambia moved up to the flawed democracy category.^[5]

Democracy index by regime type

The following table gives the number and percentage of countries and the percentage of the world population for each regime type in 2015^[6]

World population refers to the total population of the 167 countries covered by the Index. Since this excludes only micro-states, this is nearly equal to the entire estimated world population.

Democracy index by region

The following table gives the index average by world region, and the number of covered countries in 2015. Note that some regional groups (e.g., the 'Eastern Europe') are very heterogeneous and composed of full democracies as well as authoritarian regimes:

Democracy index by country (2015)

Listing by country is available on the Economist website;^[6] for by-country tables in Wikipedia using similar measures, see List of freedom indices.

Democracy Index 2015

Rank	Country	Score	Electoral process and pluralism	Functioning of government	Political participation	Political culture	Civil liberties	Category
1	Norway	9.93	10.00	9.64	10.00	10.00	10.00	Full democracy
2	Iceland	9.58	10.00	9.29	8.89	10.00	9.71	Full democracy
3	Sweden	9.45	9.58	9.64	8.33	10.00	9.71	Full democracy
4	New Zealand	9.26	10.00	9.29	8.89	8.13	10.00	Full democracy
5	Denmark	9.11	9.17	9.29	8.33	9.38	9.41	Full democracy
6	Switzerland	9.09	9.58	9.29	7.78	9.38	9.41	Full democracy
7	Canada	9.08	9.58	9.29	7.78	8.75	10.00	Full democracy
8	Finland	9.03	10.00	8.93	7.78	8.75	9.71	Full democracy
9	Australia	9.01	9.58	8.93	7.78	8.75	10.00	Full democracy
10	Netherlands	8.92	9.58	8.57	8.89	8.13	9.41	Full democracy
11	Luxembourg	8.88	10.00	9.29	6.67	8.75	9.71	Full democracy
12	Ireland	8.85	9.58	7.50	7.78	9.38	10.00	Full democracy
13	Germany	8.64	9.58	8.57	7.78	8.13	9.12	Full democracy
14	Austria	8.54	9.58	7.86	8.33	7.50	9.41	Full democracy
15	Malta	8.39	9.17	8.21	6.11	8.75	9.71	Full democracy
16	United Kingdom	8.31	9.58	7.14	6.67	8.75	9.41	Full democracy
17	Spain	8.30	9.58	7.14	7.22	8.13	9.41	Full democracy
18	Mauritius	8.28	9.17	8.21	5.56	8.75	9.71	Full democracy
19	Uruguay	8.17	10.00	8.93	4.44	7.50	10.00	Full democracy
20	United States	8.05	9.17	7.50	7.22	8.13	8.24	Full democracy
21	Italy	7.98	9.58	6.43	7.22	8.13	8.53	Flawed democracy
22	South Korea	7.97	8.75	7.86	7.22	7.50	8.53	Flawed democracy
23	Japan	7.96	9.17	8.21	6.11	7.50	8.82	Flawed democracy
23	Costa Rica	7.96	9.58	7.50	6.11	6.88	9.71	Flawed democracy
25	Czech Republic	7.94	9.58	7.14	6.67	6.88	9.41	Flawed democracy
26	Belgium	7.93	9.58	8.21	5.56	6.88	9.41	Flawed democracy
27	France	7.92	9.58	7.14	7.78	6.25	8.82	Flawed democracy
28	Botswana	7.87	9.17	7.14	6.11	7.50	9.41	Flawed democracy
29	Estonia	7.85	9.58	7.86	6.11	6.88	8.82	Flawed democracy
30	Chile	7.84	9.58	8.57	4.44	6.88	9.71	Flawed democracy
31	Taiwan	7.83	9.58	7.86	6.67	5.63	9.41	Flawed democracy
32	Cape Verde	7.81	9.17	7.86	6.67	6.25	9.12	Flawed democracy
33	Portugal	7.79	9.58	6.43	6.67	6.88	9.41	Flawed democracy
34	Israel	7.77	9.17	7.14	8.89	7.50	6.18	Flawed democracy
35	India	7.74	9.58	7.14	7.22	5.63	9.12	Flawed democracy
36	Slovenia	7.57	9.58	7.14	6.67	5.63	8.82	Flawed democracy
37	South Africa	7.56	8.33	8.21	8.33	5.00	7.94	Flawed democracy
38	Lithuania	7.54	9.58	6.07	6.11	6.25	9.71	Flawed democracy
39	Cyprus	7.53	9.17	6.43	6.67	6.25	9.12	Flawed democracy
40	Greece	7.45	9.58	5.36	6.67	6.25	9.41	Flawed democracy
41	Jamaica	7.39	9.17	6.79	5.00	6.88	9.12	Flawed democracy
42	Latvia	7.37	9.58	5.71	5.56	6.88	9.12	Flawed democracy
43	Slovakia	7.29	9.58	7.50	5.56	5.00	8.82	Flawed democracy
44	Timor-Leste	7.24	8.67	7.14	5.56	6.88	7.94	Flawed democracy
45	Panama	7.19	9.58	6.43	6.11	5.00	8.82	Flawed democracy
46	Bulgaria	7.14	9.17	6.07	7.22	5.00	8.24	Flawed democracy
47	Trinidad and Tobago	7.10	9.58	7.14	5.56	5.00	8.24	Flawed democracy
48	Poland	7.09	9.58	5.71	6.67	4.38	9.12	Flawed democracy
49	Indonesia	7.03	7.75	7.14	6.67	6.25	7.35	Flawed democracy
50	Argentina	7.02	9.17	5.00	6.11	6.88	7.94	Flawed democracy
51	Brazil	6.96	9.58	6.79	5.56	3.75	9.12	Flawed democracy
52	Croatia	6.93	9.17	6.07	5.56	5.63	8.24	Flawed democracy
53	Ghana	6.86	8.33	5.71	6.67	6.25	7.35	Flawed democracy
54	Philippines	6.84	8.33	5.71	6.67	4.38	9.12	Flawed democracy
54	Hungary	6.84	9.17	6.07	4.44	6.88	7.65	Flawed democracy
56	Suriname	6.77	9.17	6.43	5.00	5.00	8.24	Flawed democracy
57	Tunisia	6.72	7.00	6.07	7.78	6.88	5.88	Flawed democracy
58	Serbia	6.71	9.17	5.36	6.67	5.00	7.35	Flawed democracy
59	Romania	6.68	9.17	5.71	5.00	5.00	8.53	Flawed democracy
60	Dominican Republic	6.67	8.75	5.71	5.00	6.25	7.65	Flawed democracy
61	El Salvador	6.64	9.17	6.07	4.44	5.00	8.53	Flawed democracy
62	Mongolia	6.62	9.17	5.71	5.00	5.00	8.24	Flawed democracy
62	Colombia	6.62	9.17	7.14	3.89	4.38	8.53	Flawed democracy
64	Lesotho	6.59	8.25	5.36	6.67	5.63	7.06	Flawed democracy
65	Peru	6.58	9.17	5.00	6.11	4.38	8.24	Flawed democracy
66	Mexico	6.55	8.33	6.07	7.22	4.38	6.76	Flawed democracy
67	Hong Kong	6.50	4.33	5.71	5.56	7.50	9.41	Flawed democracy
68	Malaysia	6.43	6.92	7.86	5.56	6.25	5.59	Flawed democracy
69	Sri Lanka	6.42	7.83	6.79	5.00	6.88	5.59	Flawed democracy
70	Moldova	6.35	7.92	4.29	6.67	4.38	8.53	Flawed democracy
71	Paraguay	6.33	8.33	5.71	5.00	4.38	8.24	Flawed democracy
72	Namibia	6.31	5.67	5.36	6.67	5.63	8.24	Flawed democracy
73	Zambia	6.28	7.92	5.36	3.89	6.88	7.35	Flawed democracy
74	Singapore	6.14	4.33	7.50	5.56	6.25	7.06	Flawed democracy
75	Senegal	6.08	7.92	5.36	4.44	5.63	7.06	Flawed democracy
76	Guyana	6.05	7.92	5.36	5.56	4.38	7.06	Flawed democracy
77	Papua New Guinea	6.03	6.92	6.07	3.89	5.63	7.65	Flawed democracy
78	Macedonia	6.02	7.33	4.64	6.11	4.38	7.65	Flawed democracy
79	Montenegro	6.01	7.92	5.71	5.00	4.38	7.06	Flawed democracy
80	Guatemala	5.92	7.92	6.07	3.89	4.38	7.35	Hybrid regime
81	Albania	5.91	7.00	4.36	5.56	5.00	7.65	Hybrid regime
82	Georgia	5.88	8.67	4.29	5.56	5.00	5.88	Hybrid regime
83	Ecuador	5.87	8.25	4.64	5.00	4.38	7.06	Hybrid regime
84	Honduras	5.84	8.75	5.71	3.89	4.38	6.47	Hybrid regime
85	Bolivia	5.75	7.00	5.36	5.00	3.75	7.65	Hybrid regime
86	Bangladesh	5.73	7.42	5.07	5.00	4.38	6.76	Hybrid regime
87	Benin	5.72	6.92	5.71	4.44	5.63	5.88	Hybrid regime
88	Ukraine	5.70	5.83	3.93	6.67	5.00	7.06	Hybrid regime
88	Mali	5.70	7.42	3.93	4.44	6.25	6.47	Hybrid regime
90	Fiji	5.69	4.58	5.71	6.67	5.63	5.88	Hybrid regime
91	Tanzania	5.58	7.00	5.00	5.00	5.63	5.29	Hybrid regime
92	Malawi	5.55	6.58	4.29	4.44	6.25	6.18	Hybrid regime
93	Kyrgyzstan	5.33	7.83	3.29	5.56	5.00	5.00	Hybrid regime
93	Kenya	5.33	4.33	5.00	6.67	5.63	5.00	Hybrid regime
95	Nicaragua	5.26	6.17	3.29	4.44	5.63	6.76	Hybrid regime
96	Uganda	5.22	5.67	3.57	4.44	6.25	6.18	Hybrid regime
97	Turkey	5.12	6.67	5.36	5.00	5.63	2.94	Hybrid regime
98	Thailand	5.09	4.50	3.93	5.56	5.00	6.47	Hybrid regime
99	Venezuela	5.00	6.08	3.93	5.00	4.38	5.59	Hybrid regime
100	Liberia	4.95	7.83	0.79	5.56	5.00	5.59	Hybrid regime
101	Bhutan	4.93	8.33	5.36	2.78	4.38	3.82	Hybrid regime
102	Lebanon	4.86	4.42	2.14	7.78	4.38	5.59	Hybrid regime
103	Madagascar	4.85	5.50	2.86	5.56	5.63	4.71	Hybrid regime
104	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4.83	6.50	2.93	3.89	4.38	6.47	Hybrid regime
105	Nepal	4.77	3.92	4.29	4.44	5.63	5.59	Hybrid regime
106	Burkina Faso	4.70	4.42	4.29	4.44	5.63	4.71	Hybrid regime
107	Morocco	4.66	4.75	4.64	3.89	5.63	4.41	Hybrid regime
108	Nigeria	4.62	6.08	4.29	3.33	5.00	4.41	Hybrid regime
109	Mozambique	4.60	4.42	3.57	5.56	5.63	3.82	Hybrid regime
110	Palestine	4.57	4.75	2.14	7.78	4.38	3.82	Hybrid regime
111	Sierra Leone	4.55	6.58	1.86	2.78	6.25	5.29	Hybrid regime
112	Pakistan	4.40	6.00	5.71	2.78	2.50	5.00	Hybrid regime
113	Cambodia	4.27	3.17	5.71	3.33	5.00	4.12	Hybrid regime
114	Myanmar	4.14	3.17	3.57	4.44	6.88	2.65	Hybrid regime
115	Iraq	4.08	4.33	0.07	7.22	4.38	4.41	Hybrid regime
116	Armenia	4.00	4.33	2.86	4.44	2.50	5.88	Hybrid regime
117	Mauritania	3.96	3.00	4.29	5.00	3.13	4.41	Authoritarian
118	Algeria	3.95	3.00	2.21	3.89	6.25	4.41	Authoritarian
119	Haiti	3.94	4.75	2.21	2.22	3.75	6.76	Authoritarian
120	Jordan	3.86	3.58	3.93	3.89	4.38	3.53	Authoritarian
121	Kuwait	3.85	3.17	4.29	3.89	4.38	3.53	Authoritarian
121	Niger	3.85	6.25	1.14	2.78	4.38	4.71	Authoritarian
123	Ethiopia	3.83	0.00	3.57	6.11	5.63	3.82	Authoritarian
124	Gabon	3.76	3.00	2.21	4.44	5.00	4.12	Authoritarian
125	Comoros	3.71	4.33	2.21	4.44	3.75	3.82	Authoritarian
126	Cameroon	3.66	2.00	3.57	3.89	5.00	3.82	Authoritarian
127	Belarus	3.62	1.75	3.57	3.89	6.25	2.65	Authoritarian
128	Vietnam	3.53	0.00	3.93	3.89	6.88	2.94	Authoritarian
129	Cuba	3.52	1.75	4.64	3.89	4.38	2.94	Authoritarian
130	Togo	3.41	4.00	1.14	2.78	5.00	4.12	Authoritarian
131	Angola	3.35	0.92	3.21	5.00	4.38	3.24	Authoritarian
132	Ivory Coast	3.31	0.00	3.21	3.89	5.63	3.82	Authoritarian
132	Russia	3.31	2.67	2.86	5.00	2.50	3.53	Authoritarian
134	Egypt	3.18	3.00	2.86	3.33	3.75	2.94	Authoritarian
134	Qatar	3.18	0.00	3.93	2.22	5.63	4.12	Authoritarian
136	Guinea	3.14	3.50	0.43	4.44	4.38	2.94	Authoritarian
136	People's Republic of China	3.14	0.00	4.64	3.33	6.25	1.47	Authoritarian
138	Swaziland	3.09	0.92	2.86	2.22	5.63	3.82	Authoritarian
139	Rwanda	3.07	0.83	5.00	2.22	4.38	2.94	Authoritarian
140	Kazakhstan	3.06	0.50	2.14	4.44	4.38	3.82	Authoritarian
141	Zimbabwe	3.05	0.50	2.00	3.89	5.63	3.24	Authoritarian
142	Oman	3.04	0.00	3.93	2.78	4.38	4.12	Authoritarian
143	Gambia	2.97	1.33	3.93	2.22	5.00	2.35	Authoritarian
144	Republic of the Congo	2.91	1.67	2.86	3.33	3.75	2.94	Authoritarian
145	Djibouti	2.90	0.42	2.50	3.33	5.63	2.65	Authoritarian
146	Bahrain	2.79	1.25	3.21	2.78	4.38	2.35	Authoritarian
147	Afghanistan	2.77	2.50	1.14	3.89	2.50	3.82	Authoritarian
148	United Arab Emirates	2.75	0.00	3.57	2.22	5.00	2.94	Authoritarian
149	Azerbaijan	2.71	0.50	2.14	3.33	3.75	3.82	Authoritarian
150	Burundi	2.49	0.50	0.43	3.89	5.00	2.65	Authoritarian
151	Sudan	2.37	0.00	1.79	3.89	5.00	1.18	Authoritarian
151	Eritrea	2.37	0.00	2.14	1.67	6.88	1.18	Authoritarian
153	Libya	2.25	1.00	0.00	1.67	5.63	2.94	Authoritarian
154	Yemen	2.24	0.50	0.36	4.44	5.00	0.88	Authoritarian
155	Laos	2.21	0.00	3.21	1.67	5.00	1.18	Authoritarian
156	Iran	2.16	0.00	2.86	3.33	3.13	1.47	Authoritarian
157	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2.11	0.92	0.71	2.78	4.38	1.76	Authoritarian
158	Uzbekistan	1.95	0.08	1.86	2.22	5.00	0.59	Authoritarian
158	Tajikistan	1.95	0.58	0.07	1.67	6.25	1.18	Authoritarian
160	Guinea-Bissau	1.93	1.67	0.00	2.78	3.13	2.06	Authoritarian
160	Saudi Arabia	1.93	0.00	2.86	2.22	3.13	1.47	Authoritarian
162	Turkmenistan	1.83	0.00	0.79	2.78	5.00	0.59	Authoritarian
163	Equatorial Guinea	1.77	0.00	0.79	2.22	4.38	1.47	Authoritarian
164	Central African Republic	1.57	1.33	0.00	1.67	2.50	2.35	Authoritarian
165	Chad	1.50	0.00	0.00	1.11	3.75	2.65	Authoritarian
166	Syria	1.43	0.00	0.00	2.78	4.38	0.00	Authoritarian
167	North Korea	1.08	0.00	2.50	1.67	1.25	0.00	Authoritarian

See also

• Democracy promotion
• Democracy Ranking
• List of freedom indices

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Democracy Index.

• The Economist Intelligence Unit's website
• Democracy Index 2015 (registration required)