Norway still presides over the world number 1
The 2019 It brings us, in addition to good resolutions and new goals, a moment to assess everything that has happened in 365 unstoppable days and face the new year with the lesson learned (or, at least, that's how it should be).
This is what the Intelligence Unit of The Economist (EIU), a study and analytical body with more than 70 years of experience, which interprets what has happened in each country to Assess their real level of democracy year after year.
THE DEMOCRACY INDEX
One of the EIU's star studies is its Democracy Index , the Democracy Index- assessing the global state of democracy in 2018 - which has just been made public.
As a general tone, a reflection: "despite the general disenchantment with political institutions, participation grows in almost all regions of the world , since the population is encouraged to launch into political action ".
The index also highlights that in the past decade, "the political participation of women has improved more than any other indicator of the model ".
HOW IS DEMOCRACY MEASURED?
The index studies 165 independent countries and two territories (excluding microstates of the world) through five main categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; government operation; political participation; political culture.
According to the score of each of these five categories (which is done, in turn, by analyzing 60 different indicators ), the countries are then classified into four "regime" typologies, into four possible outcomes: full democracy, weak democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.
Evolution of democracy by category
GENERAL KEYS TO DEMOCRACY IN 2018
1. Global democracy has not deteriorated for the first time in three years (good news considering that this index has been done since 2006 and it is the first time that such stability has been deduced in a total of eleven published reports) .
two. A substantial decrease can be deduced in some European countries (including Italy, Turkey and Russia ) .
3. Asia record the greatest improvement in your score by standing out over any other continent.
4.**Costa Rica** is the only country that this year goes from "weak democracy" to "complete democracy".
5. Nicaragua Instead, it has moved from the category of "weak democracy" to "authoritarian rule."
6. The largest fall in Europe corresponds to Italy, which drops 12 places in the ranking.
7. 42 countries have worsened their democratic category compared to 2017; 48 have improved their score.
8. As for the total world population, fewer people live in regimes of freedom ( 47.7% compared to 49.3% in 2017 ). And only the 4.5% live in complete democracy . A third of the population lives under an authoritarian regime (with the highest percentage corresponding to the inhabitants of China) .
Italy falls 12 places
THE BEST AND THE WORST DEMOCRACIES
The great democracy, number 1, is still Norway. Likewise, the worst positioned does not change with respect to the Democracy Index of last year ( North Korea ) .
The big ranking drops Regarding the 2017 data, they correspond to two Latin American countries: Nicaragua and Venezuela. Both fall 17 places (Nicaragua moves from the classification of "hybrid regime" to authoritarian, thus joining the same category as Venezuela).
In the case of Europe, Italy stands out (down 12 places), Turkey, down ten places, and Russia (nine places, and that this index introduces Europe and not Asia) .
Instead, Armenia, Macedonia, Ecuador, Haiti and Tunisia, rise slightly in the world ranking.
Norway can boast of real democracy (at least, according to this index)
THE GREAT DEMOCRACIES OF THE WORLD
Thus, the first places on the list are for the "full democracies", the complete democracies, which lead 20 countries around the world. Spain , ranked 19th in the world, remains in the same place as in 2017 with a 8.08 total score (only 0.08 points separate us from the "weak democracy" category).
1.Norway
2.Iceland
3.Sweden
4.New Zealand
5.Denmark
6.Canada
7.Ireland
8.Finland
9.Australia
10.Switzerland
11.Netherlands
12.Luxembourg
13.Germany
14.United Kingdom
15.Uruguay
16.Austria
17.Mauritius
18.Malta
19. Spain
20. Costa Rica
THE RANKING OF WESTERN EUROPE
Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malta, Spain, form the top positions, witnessing the "complete democracies".
Portugal, France, Belgium, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, continue in the ranking as "weak democracies".
Turkey the last country in the group is positioned as hybrid regimen.