Updated to: 3/25/2022. According to him ‘Democracy Index 2021’ , published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and titled “The Chinese Challenge”, Norway is the most democratic country in the world, followed by New Zealand and Finland.
The reason for the title? “The Democracy Index 2021 assesses the state of global democracy facing the challenge of China and the covid-19 pandemic ”, they state in the report.
In this report, published on February 11, 2022, Spain goes from “full” democracy to “defective”.
The Democracy Index offers a snapshot of the state of democracy in 165 states independent and two territories. It is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of the government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
Based on its scores on a number of indicators within these categories, each country is classified into one of four regime types: “full democracy”, “defective democracy”, “hybrid regime” or “authoritarian regime”.
The Report published in 2021, for its part, was entitled “In health and in illness?”. In this thirteenth edition of the Democracy Index, which looks at global democracy in 2020, the main focus is the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on democracy and freedom around the world.
So, analyze “how the pandemic led to the withdrawal of civil liberties on a large scale and fueled an existing trend of intolerance and censorship of dissenting opinions.”
The report also examines the state of american democracy After a tumultuous year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and a highly controversial presidential election.
Norway
ONLY HALF OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION LIVES IN DEMOCRACY
According to the report, almost half of the world's population (49.4%) lives in a democracy of some kind, although only 8.4% reside in a "full democracy". This level is higher than 2019's 5.7%, as several Asian countries have seen better ones.
More than a third of the world's population lives under an authoritarian regime, and a large part is in China.
The results of the 2020 Democracy Index show that the number of "full democracies" increased to 23 in 2020, up from 22 in 2019. The number of "flawed democracies" was reduced by two, to 52. Of the remaining 92 countries, 57 are "authoritarian regimes" and 35 are classified as "hybrid regimes".
Based on the data recorded by this index in recent years, “democracy has not been in solid health and in 2020, its strength was further tested by the pandemic.”
Iceland, the second most democratic country in the world
THE WORST SCORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE INDEX
The average global score on the 2020 Democracy Index fell from 5.44 in 2019 to 5.37 in 2020. This is the worst score since it was first produced in 2006.
“The 2020 result represents a significant deterioration and was due in large part, but not exclusively, to government-imposed restrictions on individual liberties and civil liberties that occurred around the world in response to the coronavirus pandemic,” they state in the report.
The deterioration of the global score in 2020 was driven by a decline in the average regional score worldwide, but by especially large drops in the regions dominated by the "authoritarian regime" of sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa.
THE MOST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD IN 2020
The first 23 countries on the list, those considered as full democracies, are headed by Norway (with a score of 9.81), followed by Iceland (9.37) and Sweden (9.26).
Spain, with a score of 8.12, is in 22nd place in the world, descending 5 positions with respect to 2019 (only 0.13 points separate us from the "weak democracy" category).
Completing the top 10: New Zealand (in 4th place with a 9.25), Canada (5th place with a 9.24), Finland (6th place with a 9.20), Denmark (7th place with a 9.15), Ireland (8th place with a 9.05) and Australia Y Netherlands (which tied for 9th place with 8.96).
The ranking from 11 to 23 is as follows: Taiwan, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Uruguay, United Kingdom, Chile, Austria, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Japan, Spain and South Korea.
Sweden, the third country in the ranking of democracy
THE LEAST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD IN 2020
If we go to the bottom of the table, we find the countries with authoritarian regimes, the three being the least democratic: North Korea (1.08), Democratic Republic of Congo (1.13) and Central African Republic (1.32).
They complete the list of the ten least democratic countries in the world: Syria, Chad, Turkmenistan, Laos, Equatorial Guinea, Tajikistan, Yemen and Libya.
New Zealand ranks fourth
THE KEYS TO THE DEMOCRATIC INDEX 2020
Some of the highlights of the 2020 Democracy Index are as follows:
Pandemic dilemmas (life, death, lockdowns and freedom):
Worldwide in 2020, citizens experienced the greatest rollback of individual liberties ever undertaken by governments during times of peace (and perhaps even in times of war). The voluntary surrender of fundamental freedoms by millions of people was perhaps one of the most remarkable events in an extraordinary year.
Asia gains three new “full democracies” (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) in 2020:
The pandemic has accelerated the shift in the global balance of power from the West to the East. Asia lags behind the West in democratic terms, with only five "full democracies" compared to 13 in Western Europe, and the region also has seven "authoritarian regimes" while Western Europe has none. Nevertheless, the Asian region has, so far, handled the pandemic far better than virtually any other, with lower infection and mortality rates and a rapid economic rebound.
Asia gains three new “full democracies”: Japan, South Korea (pictured) and Taiwan
American democracy under pressure from growing polarization and declining social cohesion:
America's performance on several indicators changed in 2020, both for better and for worse. However, the negatives outweighed the positives and it maintained its status as a “defective democracy”.
Increased political participation was the main positive aspect while the negatives include extremely low levels of trust in political parties and institutions, profound dysfunction in the functioning of government, growing threats to freedom of expression, and a degree of social polarization that makes consensus almost impossible to achieve. .
Taiwan: The biggest winner of the year:
The star in the 2020 Democracy Index, for both its score and rank change, is Taiwan, which goes from a "defective democracy" to a "full democracy", after moving up 20 places in the world ranking from 31st to 11th. The country's score increased more than any other in the 2020 index.
Mali and Togo, the big losers in a terrible year for African democracy:
Measured by its declining score, Mali in West Africa was the worst performing country in 2020 on its Democracy Index, being downgraded from a "hybrid regime" to an "authoritarian regime." Mali has fallen 11 places globally, the second-largest rank drop in sub-Saharan Africa behind Togo, which fell 15 places, further down the ranks of "authoritarian regimes."
Taiwan: The Biggest Winner of the Year
Western Europe loses two "full democracies":
In 2020, two Western European countries, France and Portugal went from the category of “full democracy” to that of “defective democracy”. Thirteen countries in the region are now classified as "full democracies" (up from 15 in 2019) and seven as "flawed democracies," up from five in 2019. Only three countries improved in 2020 (Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom) and 18 registered a decrease.
Democratic backsliding continues under cover of Covid-19 in Eastern Europe and Latin America:
It is difficult to say whether the recent democratic backsliding in Eastern Europe and Latin America would have continued without the coronavirus pandemic. These two regions contain only three "full democracies" (all in Latin America), but share half of the world's flawed democracies (26 of 52). The deterioration in both regions in 2020 revealed the fragility of democracy in times of crisis and the willingness of governments to sacrifice civil liberties and exercise unchecked authority in an emergency situation.
The Middle East and North Africa retain the lowest score:
After sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa region recorded the second largest reduction in the regional average score in 2020, primarily due to the impact of coronavirus-related restrictions on civil liberties.
France and Portugal go from "full democracy" to "defective democracy"