2007 Index of Democracy

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2007 INDEX OF DEMOCRACY

This democracy index is based in five major parameters: 1) electoral process and pluralism; 2) civil liberties; 3) functioning of government; 4) political participation; and, 5) political culture. Ratings for 60 democracy indicators are grouped in these five categories. The perfect score would be a 10 for each of these categories.

According to this study, "the category indexes are based on the sum of the indicator scores in the category". With so many parameters included in this index it may be considered the most reliable among some other prestigious indexes on democracy and freedom, such as the one prepared by Freedom House (see box).

Freedom House Criteria for an electoral democracy
1. Competitive, multiparty political systems.
2. Universal adult suffrage.
3. Regularly contested elections on the basis of secret ballots, reasonable ballot security and absence of massive voter fraud.
4. Significant public access of major political parties to the electorate.

The Economist describes democracy "as a set of practices and principles that institutionalize and thus ultimately protect freedom". For such ar order to exists "the fundamental features of a democracy include government based on majority rule and the consento of the governed, the existence of free and fair elections, the protection of minorities and respect for basic human rights", because "democracy presupposes equality before the law, due process and political pluralism".

Such a view reaches one step beyond the classic academic concept of polyarchy advanced by Robert Dahl in his 1970 book After the Revolution, but The Economist fails to recall Dahl's more advanced view on polyarchy on his recent book On Democracy [1998] (see box below) regarding the political institutions necessary to satisfy democratic criteria.

Nevertheless, this study by The Economist goes deeper in its evaluation of democratic requirements in order to establish this 167-country ranking. While recognizing that "All democracies are systems in which citizens freely make political decisions by majority rule" the investigation included subtleties such as the principle establishing that "rule by the majority is not necessarily democratic". That is so because "majority rule must be combined with guarantees of individual human rights and the rights of minorities".

Political Institutions	Democratic criteria
Elected representatives	* Effective participation * Control of the agenda
Free, fair, frequent elections	* Voting equality * Control of the agenda
Freedom of expression and association	* Effective participation * Enlightened understanding
Alternative information	* Effective participation * Enlightened understanding * Control of the agenda
Asociational autonomy	* Effective participation * Enlightened understanding * Control of the agenda
Inclusive citizenship	* Full inclusion

Furthermore, the study takes into account that a democratic political culture is also crucial. And that "a healthy democracy requires the active, freely chosen participation of citizens in public life", including "citizens willing to take part in public debate". In other words, participatory democracy.

Written by the Staff of ParticipatoryDemocracy.net