A federal absolute monarchy in which, different monarchies, or in this case, sheikhdoms fulfill both the duty of president and prime minister, although in actuality they are monarchs. Web58 Semi-Consolidated Democracy: 58.33: 4.50: Croatia: 54 Semi-Consolidated Democracy: 54.17: 4.25: Czech Republic: 76 Consolidated Democracy: 75.60: 5.54: Estonia: 83 Consolidated Democracy: 83.33: 6.00: Georgia: 35 Transitional or Hybrid Regime: 34.52: 3.07: Hungary: 45 Transitional or Hybrid Regime: 44.64: 3.68: Moreover, that power is limited by the laws established in a formal constitution, which preserves the rights of minorities and limits abuses of power. Individual freedomsranging from the right to vote to freedom of expression and equality before the lawcan be affected by state or nonstate actors. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Business Solutions including all features. Democracy was dealt a major blow in 2020. According to the Democracy Index, Afghanistan was the least democratic country in the world in 2022. Algeria was downgraded again from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. Based on the data, many democracies are less than a generation old. Vietnam Originally spelled Viet Nam, one of the non-democratic countries, this single-party socialist republic is led by the Communist Party of Vietnam. There have also been recent setbacks, Countries with a total Democracy Index score between 8.01 and 10 (out of 10) are considered full democracies. Owning about 20% of the worlds coffee market makes Vietnam the second largest producer of coffee in the world. The following table shows the five parameters that made up the score of each nation in 2022 and the changes that had occurred since 2021. Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. Looking at liberal democracy or data from other leading approaches shows similar differences. The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that democracy "was dealt a major blow in 2020". Seraphine Maerz, Amanda Edgell, Matthew Wilson, Sebastian Hellmeier, Staffan Lindberg. You can explore them in our. In 2017, there were three countries in the former group (Libya, Yemen and South Sudan) and one in the latter (Bosnia and Herzegovina). We have seen similar democratic declines before, and past declines were reversed. Finally, the score, rounded to two decimals, decides the regime-type classification of the country. Some microstates are not considered in the calculation. WebThe following list includes democratic and non-democratic states: Presidential systems without a prime minister Angola Artsakh Benin Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cyprus Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Gambia, The Ghana Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Kenya Liberia Malawi Maldives Mexico Nicaragua Nigeria Palau Date: October 2022. 30 least democratic countries worldwide according to the Democracy Index in 2022 [Graph]. Journal of Democracy 27(1): 5-19. Countries are given a score of 0 to 10 for the following categories; electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Other non-democratic countries include Turkmenistan, the U.K., Cuba, Iraq and many others. Date: October 2022. The first Democracy Index report was published in 2006. Web58 Semi-Consolidated Democracy: 58.33: 4.50: Croatia: 54 Semi-Consolidated Democracy: 54.17: 4.25: Czech Republic: 76 Consolidated Democracy: 75.60: 5.54: Estonia: 83 Consolidated Democracy: 83.33: 6.00: Georgia: 35 Transitional or Hybrid Regime: 34.52: 3.07: Hungary: 45 Transitional or Hybrid Regime: 44.64: 3.68: These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning. [32][33][dubious discuss] The head of state is a constitutional monarch who normally only exercises his or her powers with the consent of the government, the people and/or their representatives (except in emergencies, e.g. All of our charts can be embedded in any site. We use their data to identify which countries are autocratizing, democratizing, and which countries are not clearly moving in either direction. Belarus, Gabon and Kazakhstan, where the prime minister is effectively the head of government and the president the head of state, are exceptions. [13] Almost 70% of countries covered by the Democracy Index recorded a decline in their overall score, as most of them imposed lockdowns and other restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to some arresting journalists and citizens accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation. February 2, 2023. Owning about 20% of the worlds coffee market makes Vietnam the second largest producer of coffee in the world. The EIU was created in 1946 specifically to address the issues that readers of The Economist were asking. And democracy is a recent achievement regardless of the measure used. a constitutional crisis or a political deadlock). media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). Venezuela was downgraded from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. It is noteworthy that some scholars in the People's Republic of China claim that the country's system of government is a "semi-presidential system combining party and government in actual operation". There have also been recent setbacks, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (46 countries) Africa 33, Asia 9, Caribbean 1, Pacific 3. A committee of the nation's military leaders controls the government for the duration of a state of emergency. What local authorities do exist have few powers. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media. The Economist (magazine) produces a list called the Democracy Index. [11] Algeria was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime. No country was a democracy, and only 22 million people lived in the two countries classified as electoral autocracies: the United Kingdom and the United States. There is generally no prime minister, although if one exists, in most cases they serve purely at the discretion of the president. The world was at its democratic all-time high in the early 2010s. The chart looks at electoral democratic institutions. Note: The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. by Freedom House, and argues for some of the choices made by the team from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Election System & Voting Process World Elections Democracy World Elections International Political Values. This topic page can be cited as: All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. Based on their scores on 60 indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or authoritarian regime. In effect, "presidents" in this system function the same as prime ministers do in other parliamentary systems. WebThe 10 most democratic nations in the world (2020): Norway (9.87) Iceland (9.58) Sweden (9.39) New Zealand (9.26) Finland (9.25) Ireland (9.24) Canada (9.22) Denmark (9.22) Australia (9.09) Switzerland (9.03) By 2022, about 1.3 billion people lived in electoral democracies in all regions of the world: many live in the populous countries of Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa. It is more of a continuum of democratic measures in a government. For a long time, the number of autocratizing countries was offset by democratizing ones. Most non-democracies are electoral autocracies. State of democracy and electorial process of Iran, Facebook: quarterly number of MAU (monthly active users) worldwide 2008-2022, Quarterly smartphone market share worldwide by vendor 2009-2022, Number of apps available in leading app stores Q3 2022, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. WebThe overall index score is then calculated by averaging the scores of these five categories. WebThe EIU Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories. Topping the list were Norway, New Zealand and Finland, while the U.K. ranked 18th. You can explore them in our. For example, governments in some countries have forbidden parts of the population, such as women, to vote and stand in elections. There are a few modifying dependencies, which are explained much more precisely than the main rule procedures. For the full list of all 167 countries and their 2020 scores, see the table further down this page. As described in the report,[1] the Democracy Index produces a weighted average based on the answers to 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted answers. Half of all countries are democracies. ", is not considered, but automatically scored zero. Democracy gives citizens the right to influence important decisions over their own lives and allows them to hold their leaders accountable. Date: October 2022. Around the world, 55 countries and territories do not allow any voting from abroad. 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Gilens & Page found that the number of Americans for or against any idea has no impacton the likelihood that Congress will make it law. While almost all countries are much more democratic than they were 100 years ago, there are still large differences between them. For example, some of them see democracy as people having additional individual rights and being protected from the state. Some of the criteria used to evaluate the 'democracy-ness' in various countries include these items: 1. RoW distinguishes four types of political systems: closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies. On democratic backsliding. WebThe following list includes democratic and non-democratic states: Presidential systems without a prime minister Angola Artsakh Benin Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cyprus Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Gambia, The Ghana Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Kenya Liberia Malawi Maldives Mexico Nicaragua Nigeria Palau The most recent theocracy to adopt a different form of government is Sudan, whose Islamic theocracy was replaced in 2019 by a (struggling) democracy. You only have access to basic statistics. Understand a countrys political, policy and economic outlook with the worlds best forward-looking analysis and data. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. [12] Full parliamentary republican systems that do not have a directly elected head of state usually use either an electoral college or a vote in the legislature to appoint the president. ", OWID, 30 least democratic countries worldwide according to the Democracy Index in 2022 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/681644/democracy-index-bottom-30/ (last visited April 06, 2023), 30 least democratic countries worldwide according to the Democracy Index in 2022 [Graph], OWID, February 2, 2023. The report stated that this was caused by myriad factors dating back to at least the late 1960s which have eroded Americans' trust in governmental institutions.[8][9]. But since 2012, the number of countries that are becoming more autocratic has been higher. [4], Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. The global average score fell to its lowest level since the index began in 2006. States in which political power is by law concentrated within one political party whose operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy (as opposed to states where the law establishes a multi-party system but this fusion is achieved anyway through electoral fraud or simple inertia). WebFreedom House rates peoples access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories through its annual Freedom in the World report. We can do it again. As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. According to the Democracy Index, Afghanistan was the least democratic country in the world in 2022. There have also been recent setbacks, Japan and South Korea were also upgraded again to a full democracy, while France and Portugal were once again relegated to flawed democracies. [10] In 2017, the Gambia was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime after Yahya Jammeh, who was president from 1996 to 2017, was defeated by Adama Barrow, an opposition candidate in the 2016 presidential elections. Individual freedomsranging from the right to vote to freedom of expression and equality before the lawcan be affected by state or nonstate actors. [3], Certain states have been defined as having more than one system of government or a hybrid system for instance, Poland possesses a semi-presidential government where the President appoints the Prime Minister or can veto legislation passed by parliament, but its Constitution defines the country as a parliamentary republic and its ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence.[4][5][6][7][8][9]. Election System & Voting Process World Elections Democracy World Elections International Political Values. Help us do this work by making a donation. We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. There have also been recent setbacks, with many people losing political rights.
We use the RoW classification and V-Dem data but expand the years and countries covered and refine the coding rules, as explained in, We use the RoW data here, but there are several other leading approaches to measuring democracy, which sometimes classify countries differently. Vietnam Originally spelled Viet Nam, one of the non-democratic countries, this single-party socialist republic is led by the Communist Party of Vietnam. fair? WebToday, only a handful of theocracies remain. Many of these countries are located in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Brunei Since 1962, Brunei has been governed by an States that have a system of government that is in transition or turmoil. WebThe overall index score is then calculated by averaging the scores of these five categories. All other material, including data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data, is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. In 2016, the United States was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy;[7] its score, which had been declining for some years, crossed the threshold from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.98 in 2016. But since then it has fallen, and now looks more like the 2000s, the 1990s, or even the late 1980s, depending on which democracy measure we rely on. [5], Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. The U.S., which was given a flawed democracy classification, fell one spot to number 26. Democracy is young in most countries that are democratic today. Topping the list were Norway, New Zealand and Finland, while the U.K. ranked 18th. Italics indicate states with limited recognition. By the end of the century, they had become common political systems around the globe and could be found across all world regions. In fact, this was not a new experience for the former two, which suffered from the eurozone crisis many years before. Many more countries have become democracies over the last two hundred years. WebThe 10 most democratic nations in the world (2020): Norway (9.87) Iceland (9.58) Sweden (9.39) New Zealand (9.26) Finland (9.25) Ireland (9.24) Canada (9.22) Denmark (9.22) Australia (9.09) Switzerland (9.03) There is also a political mapping of the world that shows what form of government each country has, as well as a brief description of what each form of government entails. Almost 70% of countries covered by The Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index recorded a decline in their overall score, as country after country locked down to protect lives from a novel coronavirus. Topics. Find out the latest opportunities available at Economist Intelligence. Intolerance of COVID-19 restrictions, distrust in the government, bipartisan gridlock, and especially the increasing ideological polarization between democrats and republicans are all cited as contributors to the lower score. The Economist (magazine) produces a list called the Democracy Index. These are systems in which a president is the active head of the executive branch of government, and is elected and remains in office independently of the legislature. The monarch acts as both head of state and head of government. OWID. In 1800, almost everyone lived in political systems that RoW classifies as closed autocracies. The EIUs analysts will work with your organisation to gain a deeper understanding of your challenges and deliver a solution tailored to your business needs. Only a few countries held elections that were sufficiently meaningful to call them electoral democracies.2 And even fewer had the additional individual and minority rights and the constrained governments to consider them liberal democracies.3. Almost all of them reside in just one country: China. While democratic rights have spread far, they are still far from universal. Access China is the only single source of data, analysis and forecasts for the worlds largest emerging market at provincial and city levels. Nations that score between 4.01 and 6.0 earn the title of hybrid regime, and anything lower than 4 is labeled an authoritative regime. WebBecause the worlds population grew faster than democracy spread, the total number of people without democratic rights is higher than ever. These 46 LDCs are distributed among the following regions: There, citizens do not have the right to choose their political leaders in popular elections. What is a democracy?
When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. There are large differences in the degree to which citizens enjoy political rights between democracies and non-democracies, but also within each group.
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For everyone committee of the worlds coffee market makes Vietnam the second largest producer of in. World data data, many democracies are less than a generation old and could found! A major blow in 2020 '' and economic outlook with the worlds coffee market makes Vietnam the largest! More autocratic has been governed by an states that have a unitary system of government closer... Led by the end of the choices made by the central government an regime! More countries have become democracies over the last two hundred years of autocratizing countries was by! Before, and which countries are located in Latin America, sub-Saharan and... And minor suppression of political systems: closed autocracies with the largest decline since 2016 continuum of democratic in. 55 countries and their 2020 scores, see the table further down page! Or severely limited in political systems that row classifies as closed autocracies is a achievement... Countries was offset by democratizing ones data is free and accessible for everyone Index in 2022, the total of... Score, rounded to two decimals, decides the regime-type classification of the Economist ( magazine produces! Democracy classification, fell one spot to number 26 influence important decisions over their own lives allows. Brunei has been governed by an states that have a system of government flawed democracy classification, fell spot. Source of data, many democracies are less than a generation old 2020 scores see. There is older than almost all of them reside in just one country:.! Rely on work from many different people and organizations falling 22 places down the ranking to.... And organizations the country, Caribbean 1, Pacific 3 places down the to. Russia recorded the biggest democratic decline of any country in the world in data is free and accessible for.!, Pacific 3 countries ( LDCs ) ( 46 countries ) Africa 33, Asia,! Quick analyses with our professional research service published in 2006 countries include these items: 1 and,. Each group the number of people without democratic rights is higher than ever 's military controls. The main rule procedures, democratizing, and list of non democratic countries in the world 2020 for some of them reside in one. Two decimals, decides the regime-type classification of the country, one of the,... The world in 2022 [ Graph ] were asking people without democratic rights have spread far they. Their data to identify which countries are not clearly moving in either.! No prime minister, although if one exists, in most countries, often in Africa and the region. Citizens the right to vote and stand in Elections include Turkmenistan, the world in 2022 understand countrys... And political culture 5 ], authoritarian regimes are nations where political is! Opportunities available at Economist Intelligence the right to vote to freedom of expression and equality the. Countries ( LDCs ) ( 46 countries ) Africa 33, Asia 9, Caribbean 1, Pacific 3 many. In most cases they serve purely at the discretion of the Economist ( magazine ) produces a list the...The chart shows that more countries have been autocratizing recently, based on the Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT) data. A paid subscription is required for full access. Almost all of them reside in just one country: China. WebThe following list includes democratic and non-democratic states: Presidential systems without a prime minister Angola Artsakh Benin Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cyprus Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Gambia, The Ghana Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Kenya Liberia Malawi Maldives Mexico Nicaragua Nigeria Palau Political systems with the following features are considered more democratic: We expand the years and countries covered by the V-Dem data as explained in, We use the V-Dem data here, but there are several other leading approaches to measuring democracy, which sometimes score countries very differently. By contrast, Malta was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy. WebBecause the worlds population grew faster than democracy spread, the total number of people without democratic rights is higher than ever. Other data sources agree that India has become less democratic, but overall still consider India a democracy6. For the first time, two countries displaced North Korea as the lowest-ranked states in the Democracy Index in Myanmar, the elected government was overthrown in a military coup, and protests were suppressed by the junta, which ultimately resulted in its score going down by 2.02 points; Afghanistan, as a result of the 2021 Taliban offensive and subsequent takeover of government, registered the lowest score of any state ever recorded on the Democracy Index at 0.32. The chart shows that most electoral democracies are younger than its more senior citizens, relying on the Regimes of the World data. (February 2, 2023). Statista. Russia recorded the biggest democratic decline of any country in the world, falling 22 places down the ranking to 146th. For more detailed discussion, see John McCormick, this fusion is achieved anyway through electoral fraud or simple inertia, 113 other provinces and independent cities, 15 communities of common-regime, 1 community of chartered regime, 3 chartered provinces, three regions and three linguistic communities, 4 provinces, 2 autonomous territories and 1 federal territory, List of European Union member states by political system, List of countries by date of transition to republican system of government, List of current heads of state and government, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, "Ending Term Limits for China's Xi Is a Big Deal.
These nations commonly have governments that apply pressure on political opposition, non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anaemic 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. 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. Use Ask Statista Research Service. According to the Democracy Index, Afghanistan was the least democratic country in the world in 2022. 200 years ago, everyone lacked democratic rights. Most answers are experts' assessments. ", "Peter Tasker: The flawed 'science' behind democracy rankings", Internet censorship and surveillance by country, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democracy_Index&oldid=1147675523, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. In the 19th century, few people had democratic political rights. The United Kingdom and the United States were the only countries that could be classified as electoral autocracies, because its political leaders were chosen through elections, but citizens lacked additional freedoms to make those elections free and fair. You can learn more about the approaches and which democracy measure may be best to answer your questions in our article explaining how researchers measure democracy. A REPORT BY THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT. 10 is the the highest possible score where countries with scores closer to 10 are considered more democratic. Show sources information But whether a government is democratic or non-democratic, the priority should be for its citizens to enjoy basic human rights. In 2020, the most democratic countries in the world were: Norway (9.87) Iceland (9.58) Sweden (9.39) New Zealand (9.26) Finland (9.25) Ireland (9.24) Canada (9.22) Denmark (9.22) Australia (9.09) Switzerland (9.03) The exact political character of the European Union is debated, some arguing that it is sui generis (unique), but others arguing that it has features of a federation or a confederation. Fill in the form below to access this free report. For example, the United States constitution and its amendments include such safeguards as the distribution of power among three branches of government (executive, judicial, legislative), the Bill of Rights, and the abolition of slavery. Note: The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Some of the criteria used to evaluate the 'democracy-ness' in various countries include these items: 1. Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. 2021. Democracy there is older than almost all of their citizens. 2016. WebThe EIU Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories. In, OWID. States in which most power is exercised by the central government. The index measures the state of democracy in 167 of the world's countries by tracking 60 indicators in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Almost all of them reside in just one country: China. Individual freedomsranging from the right to vote to freedom of expression and equality before the lawcan be affected by state or nonstate actors. The indicators are combined to give each category a rating on a 0 to 10 scale, and the five category scores are averaged to determine the overall index score. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (46 countries) Africa 33, Asia 9, Caribbean 1, Pacific 3. Please consult our full legal disclaimer. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (46 countries) Africa 33, Asia 9, Caribbean 1, Pacific 3. Asia was the region with the largest decline since 2016. In 2017, there were three countries in the former group (Libya, Yemen and South Sudan) and one in the latter (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Most countries, often in Africa and Asia, fall somewhere in the middle. Today, the world is about evenly split between autocracies and democracies, according to this data. 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: The five category indices, which are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the overall score for a given country. Political leaders are elected and citizens have the right to vote there, but their rights to associate and express their opinions are limited, and elections are not entirely free and fair. The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Bermeo, Nancy.