0.900–1.000 0.800–0.899 0.700–0.799 | 0.600–0.699 0.500–0.599 0.400–0.499 | 0.300–0.399 0.200–0.299 0.100–0.199 | 0.000–0.099 No data |
Democracy in Asia can be comparatively assessed [1] according to various definitions of democracy. [2] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, the Asian countries with the highest democracy scores in 2023 are Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Israel, meanwhile the Asian countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are Saudi Arabia, China and Afghanistan. [3] Democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Asia. [4] The V-Dem Democracy Report identified for the year 2023 East Timor as a case of stand-alone democratization and Thailand and Maldives as cases of U-Turn Democratization. [5]
The table below shows Asian countries scored on V-Dem Democracy indices in 2024. [5] [3] [6]
Country | Democracy Indices | Democracy Component Indices | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Electoral | Liberal | Liberal | Egalitarian | Participatory | Deliberative | |
Taiwan | 0.823 | 0.722 | 0.878 | 0.913 | 0.751 | 0.897 |
Japan | 0.818 | 0.731 | 0.901 | 0.927 | 0.565 | 0.9 |
Israel | 0.723 | 0.634 | 0.889 | 0.762 | 0.603 | 0.759 |
South Korea | 0.703 | 0.604 | 0.863 | 0.863 | 0.61 | 0.844 |
East Timor | 0.698 | 0.507 | 0.692 | 0.555 | 0.554 | 0.72 |
Nepal | 0.681 | 0.523 | 0.742 | 0.592 | 0.614 | 0.555 |
Armenia | 0.634 | 0.422 | 0.611 | 0.811 | 0.442 | 0.69 |
Georgia | 0.604 | 0.473 | 0.761 | 0.784 | 0.542 | 0.803 |
Maldives | 0.599 | 0.453 | 0.728 | 0.61 | 0.49 | 0.782 |
Sri Lanka | 0.58 | 0.421 | 0.688 | 0.625 | 0.549 | 0.61 |
Indonesia | 0.541 | 0.36 | 0.604 | 0.445 | 0.595 | 0.816 |
Bhutan | 0.527 | 0.445 | 0.819 | 0.831 | 0.558 | 0.921 |
Mongolia | 0.527 | 0.405 | 0.732 | 0.607 | 0.398 | 0.769 |
Malaysia | 0.506 | 0.359 | 0.655 | 0.726 | 0.533 | 0.662 |
Papua New Guinea | 0.475 | 0.383 | 0.761 | 0.493 | 0.527 | 0.524 |
Philippines | 0.43 | 0.287 | 0.581 | 0.334 | 0.567 | 0.749 |
Singapore | 0.403 | 0.331 | 0.735 | 0.81 | 0.134 | 0.738 |
India | 0.377 | 0.275 | 0.621 | 0.429 | 0.507 | 0.612 |
Iraq | 0.367 | 0.21 | 0.452 | 0.449 | 0.462 | 0.589 |
Lebanon | 0.364 | 0.237 | 0.529 | 0.503 | 0.472 | 0.667 |
Kyrgyzstan | 0.358 | 0.199 | 0.432 | 0.582 | 0.392 | 0.367 |
Pakistan | 0.344 | 0.212 | 0.484 | 0.243 | 0.545 | 0.531 |
Kuwait | 0.333 | 0.313 | 0.8 | 0.58 | 0.186 | 0.66 |
Thailand | 0.288 | 0.228 | 0.598 | 0.472 | 0.388 | 0.341 |
Turkey | 0.287 | 0.113 | 0.245 | 0.53 | 0.416 | 0.195 |
Kazakhstan | 0.284 | 0.144 | 0.345 | 0.597 | 0.299 | 0.446 |
Jordan | 0.256 | 0.253 | 0.729 | 0.566 | 0.284 | 0.692 |
Palestine (West Bank) | 0.254 | 0.138 | 0.359 | 0.623 | 0.422 | 0.388 |
Bangladesh | 0.253 | 0.096 | 0.219 | 0.243 | 0.303 | 0.298 |
Uzbekistan | 0.215 | 0.081 | 0.2 | 0.449 | 0.173 | 0.445 |
Cambodia | 0.198 | 0.057 | 0.13 | 0.219 | 0.371 | 0.187 |
Russia | 0.19 | 0.062 | 0.151 | 0.396 | 0.379 | 0.2 |
Azerbaijan | 0.188 | 0.064 | 0.162 | 0.37 | 0.119 | 0.123 |
Oman | 0.17 | 0.137 | 0.436 | 0.58 | 0.388 | 0.203 |
Tajikistan | 0.168 | 0.041 | 0.091 | 0.198 | 0.157 | 0.149 |
Iran | 0.156 | 0.082 | 0.246 | 0.5 | 0.079 | 0.186 |
Hong Kong | 0.154 | 0.124 | 0.401 | 0.721 | 0.131 | 0.17 |
Turkmenistan | 0.15 | 0.036 | 0.083 | 0.288 | 0.065 | 0.043 |
Vietnam | 0.149 | 0.114 | 0.372 | 0.662 | 0.563 | 0.613 |
Syria | 0.146 | 0.054 | 0.153 | 0.167 | 0.137 | 0.056 |
Palestine (Gaza Strip) | 0.136 | 0.07 | 0.219 | 0.582 | 0.357 | 0.202 |
Laos | 0.132 | 0.095 | 0.313 | 0.44 | 0.393 | 0.181 |
Yemen | 0.13 | 0.048 | 0.14 | 0.108 | 0.217 | 0.181 |
Bahrain | 0.129 | 0.054 | 0.165 | 0.391 | 0.122 | 0.209 |
United Arab Emirates | 0.102 | 0.078 | 0.27 | 0.486 | 0.095 | 0.285 |
Qatar | 0.087 | 0.085 | 0.306 | 0.382 | 0.041 | 0.389 |
North Korea | 0.084 | 0.015 | 0.036 | 0.317 | 0.153 | 0.036 |
Myanmar | 0.081 | 0.016 | 0.044 | 0.207 | 0.314 | 0.221 |
Afghanistan | 0.075 | 0.03 | 0.101 | 0.112 | 0.03 | 0.093 |
China | 0.074 | 0.037 | 0.129 | 0.315 | 0.124 | 0.382 |
Saudi Arabia | 0.015 | 0.046 | 0.184 | 0.446 | 0.087 | 0.249 |
Democracy is a system of government in which state power is vested in the people or the general population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitive elections while more expansive definitions link democracy to guarantees of civil liberties and human rights in addition to competitive elections.
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