Global democracy has been dealt a major blow, with only 6.6 per cent of the world’s population living in full democracy and more than a third living under authoritarian regimes, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2021 Democracy Index.
Australia retained ninth position in the annual ranking that rates the state of democracy across 167 countries. Switzerland was also ranked ninth.
The UK was ranked 18th and the United States 26th on the index.
The Taliban seizing power in and ongoing turmoil in Myanmar following a military coup saw both nations tumble to the bottom of the list alongside North Korea.
Myanmar was ranked 135th in 2020, now it's 166th. Afghanistan was ranked 139th in 2020, now it's 167th, the position North Korea - now 165th on the list - held in 2020.
Taiwan recorded a steep rise in its ranking, overtaking Australia to ascend to eighth place from the number 11 position in 2020, while Indonesia recorded the second biggest improvement globally after Zambia, jumping from 64th position in 2020 to 52nd position in the new report.
But in spite of the democratic advancements in Taiwan and Indonesia, Asia’s average index experienced a dramatic decline – from 5.62 in 2020 to 5.46 in 2021 – due to significant backsliding in Afghanistan and Myanmar in the past 12 months.
“EIU’s 2021 Democracy Index report reflects the continuing negative impact of COVID-19 on democracy and freedom around the world for a second successive year,” Joan Hoey, editor of the report, said in a statement on Thursday morning.
The annual survey scores countries on a scale of zero to 10 on the basis of five measures – electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
Democracy Index 2021. Source: EUI
Based on the nations’ overall scores, the report divides them into four categories: full democracy (countries with a score of more than eight), flawed democracy (countries with a score greater than six and less than or equal to eight), hybrid regime (countries with a score greater than four and less than or equal to six), and authoritarian regime (countries with a score of four or less).
According to the 2020 report, 23 countries (around 8.4 per cent of the world’s population) were full democracies. Those figures fell to 21 countries and 6.6. per cent in the 2021 report.
Of the 167 countries surveyed, the following countries made it to the top 10 alongside Australia: Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Ireland, Taiwan and Switzerland. The UK is rated a full democracy and its 18th ranking was down from 16th in 2020.
The best ranked countries. Source: EIU
Fifty-three countries (including France, Israel, Spain, the United States, Italy, India and Singapore) are “flawed democracies”, the report said, with the United States' ranking of 26 one lower than its 2020 position of 25.
The survey defines flawed democracies as countries that have free and fair elections and, even if there are problems (such as infringements on media freedom), basic civil liberties are respected. However, there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.
Thirty-four countries, including Bangladesh, Fiji, Hong Kong, Morocco, Nepal and Turkey, have been classified as “hybrid regimes”, while 59 nations (including Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, Russia, UAE, China, North Korea, Myanmar and Afghanistan) fall in the “authoritarian regime” category.
The worst ranked countries. Source: EIU
The report also takes an in-depth look at China, which has a total score of 2.21, down from 2.97 in 2006 when the index began.
“With the Western democratic capitalist model facing an increasing challenge from China, the real challenge for the West may not be to figure out how to prevent China from one day becoming the dominant global power, but to manage that process in such a way as to avoid war and preserve democracy and the best of the Western enlightenment legacy,” Ms Hoey said.
