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 Europe can be comparatively assessed [1] according to various definitions of democracy. [2] According to the V-Dem Democracy Indices, the European countries with the highest democracy scores in 2023 are Denmark, Norway and Sweden, meanwhile the European countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are Belarus, Russia and Turkey. [3]
After the fall of Communism most countries in Central and Eastern Europe either democratized or re-democratized. [4] Some democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Europe, including Hungary and Poland. [5] [6] The V-Dem Democracy Report identified for the year 2023 Montenegro and Kosovo as cases of stand-alone democratization and North Macedonia as a case of U-Turn democratization, while Poland as a small but statistically insignificant uptick in liberal democracy index. [7] Some view European democracies have become more consensual and less majoritarian over time. [8] Increased importance of constitutionalism has been claimed. [9]
The table below shows European countries scored on 2 high-level V-Dem Democracy indices and 4 mid-level Democracy Component indices evaluating the state of democracy in year 2023 which were published in 2024. [10] [11] [12]
| Country | Democracy Indices | Democracy Component Indices | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral | Liberal | Liberal | Egalitarian | Participatory | Deliberative | |
 Denmark | 0.915 | 0.883 | 0.977 | 0.972 | 0.716 | 0.967 |
 Ireland | 0.896 | 0.831 | 0.933 | 0.875 | 0.634 | 0.905 |
 Estonia | 0.895 | 0.845 | 0.955 | 0.887 | 0.638 | 0.85 |
 Belgium | 0.895 | 0.814 | 0.909 | 0.931 | 0.648 | 0.91 |
 Switzerland | 0.89 | 0.844 | 0.962 | 0.931 | 0.882 | 0.98 |
 Norway | 0.886 | 0.836 | 0.955 | 0.961 | 0.655 | 0.988 |
 Sweden | 0.884 | 0.852 | 0.98 | 0.903 | 0.651 | 0.905 |
 Luxembourg | 0.878 | 0.798 | 0.91 | 0.939 | 0.578 | 0.975 |
 France | 0.877 | 0.81 | 0.93 | 0.811 | 0.632 | 0.939 |
 Czech Republic | 0.871 | 0.805 | 0.933 | 0.913 | 0.585 | 0.88 |
 Finland | 0.86 | 0.82 | 0.972 | 0.896 | 0.637 | 0.942 |
 Germany | 0.856 | 0.812 | 0.967 | 0.941 | 0.662 | 0.976 |
 Netherlands | 0.854 | 0.8 | 0.951 | 0.891 | 0.62 | 0.943 |
 United Kingdom | 0.852 | 0.772 | 0.914 | 0.81 | 0.66 | 0.843 |
 Latvia | 0.852 | 0.768 | 0.908 | 0.862 | 0.674 | 0.825 |
 Portugal | 0.845 | 0.751 | 0.887 | 0.795 | 0.611 | 0.872 |
 Austria | 0.844 | 0.773 | 0.926 | 0.893 | 0.65 | 0.827 |
 Spain | 0.843 | 0.757 | 0.902 | 0.841 | 0.645 | 0.828 |
 Italy | 0.837 | 0.757 | 0.911 | 0.904 | 0.747 | 0.911 |
 Iceland | 0.834 | 0.744 | 0.896 | 0.87 | 0.659 | 0.845 |
 Slovakia | 0.823 | 0.739 | 0.909 | 0.792 | 0.686 | 0.583 |
 Lithuania | 0.798 | 0.735 | 0.938 | 0.868 | 0.692 | 0.822 |
 Malta | 0.779 | 0.64 | 0.807 | 0.894 | 0.653 | 0.803 |
 Cyprus | 0.774 | 0.636 | 0.817 | 0.869 | 0.574 | 0.837 |
 Slovenia | 0.758 | 0.653 | 0.864 | 0.884 | 0.71 | 0.867 |
 Greece | 0.751 | 0.582 | 0.752 | 0.835 | 0.641 | 0.868 |
 Croatia | 0.733 | 0.639 | 0.879 | 0.768 | 0.625 | 0.68 |
 Moldova | 0.713 | 0.608 | 0.86 | 0.8 | 0.665 | 0.93 |
 Kosovo | 0.674 | 0.494 | 0.702 | 0.685 | 0.524 | 0.6 |
 Romania | 0.669 | 0.501 | 0.72 | 0.674 | 0.657 | 0.35 |
 Bulgaria | 0.666 | 0.588 | 0.898 | 0.76 | 0.663 | 0.914 |
 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 |
 Poland | 0.588 | 0.444 | 0.729 | 0.877 | 0.555 | 0.719 |
 Montenegro | 0.581 | 0.467 | 0.785 | 0.771 | 0.561 | 0.759 |
 North Macedonia | 0.56 | 0.359 | 0.584 | 0.598 | 0.61 | 0.64 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.512 | 0.346 | 0.616 | 0.655 | 0.527 | 0.678 |
 Albania | 0.51 | 0.402 | 0.75 | 0.706 | 0.555 | 0.444 |
 Hungary | 0.44 | 0.325 | 0.668 | 0.631 | 0.571 | 0.361 |
 Ukraine | 0.415 | 0.249 | 0.5 | 0.654 | 0.58 | 0.761 |
 Serbia | 0.364 | 0.253 | 0.579 | 0.747 | 0.55 | 0.486 |
 Turkey | 0.287 | 0.113 | 0.245 | 0.53 | 0.416 | 0.195 |
 Russia | 0.19 | 0.062 | 0.151 | 0.396 | 0.379 | 0.2 |
 Belarus | 0.157 | 0.036 | 0.082 | 0.734 | 0.161 | 0.044 |
Ahead of the 2024 Azerbaijani presidential election, Amnesty International reported an increased crackdown on the right to freedom of expression, repression of peaceful dissent, a coordinated assault on civil society, and the targeting of critical voices by President Ilham Aliyev. [13]
Unfair elections were reported in Belarus. [14]
Electoral fraud was reported at the 2024 Georgian parliamentary election. [15]
Unfair elections were reported in Russia due to political repression [16] and allegations of electoral fraud. Lack of freedom of the press resulted that most of Russians believe that the elections in Russia are mostly fair. [17]
At 2023 Serbian parliamentary election electoral fraud was reported. [18]
Limited political freedom of the press is reported in Turkey. [19]
The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. To ensure a separation of powers, the Republic of Korea Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The government exercises executive power and legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and a Constitutional Court.
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism. Various definitions of autocracy exist. They may restrict autocracy to cases where power is held by a single individual, or they may define autocracy in a way that includes a group of rulers who wield absolute power. The autocrat has total control over the exercise of civil liberties within the autocracy, choosing under what circumstances they may be exercised, if at all. Governments may also blend elements of autocracy and democracy, forming an anocracy. The concept of autocracy has been recognized in political philosophy since ancient times.
Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction.
On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head of state and a parliament, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, two consecutive six-year terms by the people. The Federal Assembly has two chambers. The State Duma has 450 members, elected for five-year terms. The Federation Council is not directly elected; each of the 89 federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 208 (178 + 30, members.
Elections in Egypt are held for the president and a bicameral legislature. The president of Egypt is elected for a six-year term by popular vote after draft amendments to the 2013 constitution altered the presidential term limits from the original four years to six years.
The state of Democracy in Middle East and North Africa can be comparatively assessed according to various definitions of democracy. De jure democracies in the Middle East and North Africa are according to system of government:
A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democratic direction. Democratization waves have been linked to sudden shifts in the distribution of power among the great powers, which created openings and incentives to introduce sweeping domestic reforms. Although transitional regimes experience more civil unrest, they may be considered stable in a transitional phase for decades at a time. Since the end of the Cold War transitional regimes have become the most common form of government. Scholarly analysis of the decorative nature of democratic institutions concludes that the opposite democratic backsliding (autocratization), a transition to authoritarianism is the most prevalent basis of modern hybrid regimes.
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military. States that have a blurred boundary between democracy and authoritarianism have some times been characterized as "hybrid democracies", "hybrid regimes" or "competitive authoritarian" states.
A hybrid regime is a type of political system often created as a result of an incomplete democratic transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. Hybrid regimes are categorized as having a combination of autocratic features with democratic ones and can simultaneously hold political repressions and regular elections. Hybrid regimes are commonly found in developing countries with abundant natural resources such as petro-states. Although these regimes experience civil unrest, they may be relatively stable and tenacious for decades at a time. There has been a rise in hybrid regimes since the end of the Cold War.
An unfair election identifies when an election is not free and fair. Unfair elections violate one or more of the characteristics of free and fair elections.
Democracy in Bangladesh is historically connected to the Westminster style of democracy of United Kingdom while Bangladesh was part of British Colonial Empire from 1700 to 1947. Since Bangladesh achieved its independence on 26 March 1971 from Pakistan, Bangladesh introduced parliamentary democracy into its political system; however, a military coup in 1975 halted the process. It was restored in 1991 through a constitutional amendment.
Democratic backsliding is a process of regime change toward autocracy in which the exercise of political power becomes more arbitrary and repressive. The process typically restricts the space for public contest and political participation in the process of government selection. Democratic decline involves the weakening of democratic institutions, such as the peaceful transition of power or free and fair elections, or the violation of individual rights that underpin democracies, especially freedom of expression. Democratic backsliding is the opposite of democratization.
A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during the transition from a different kind of political regime, such as the post-communist period after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Democratic backsliding, also known as autocratization, is the decline in democratic qualities of a political regime, the opposite of democratization.
Democratic backsliding in the United States has been identified as a trend at the state and national levels in various indices and analyses. Democratic backsliding is "a process of regime change towards autocracy that makes the exercise of political power more arbitrary and repressive and that restricts the space for public contestation and political participation in the process of government selection".
Democracy indices are quantitative and comparative assessments of the state of democracy for different countries according to various definitions of democracy.
Democracy in Afghanistan has been severely limited and characterized by short, unstable historical periods since the formation of the contemporary state of Afghanistan in the 20th century. Following the rise of power of Ghazi Amanullah Khan in 1919, the first elements of a democratic government in the country began to emerge, with the formation of a constitution and increased civil liberties. Amanullah's political reforms resulted in his overthrow and for much of the rest of the 20th century, until 1964, there was limited democratization in the country. With the establishment of a bicameral national legislature in 1964 by King Zahir Shah, political parties began to form; however, none of these reforms were lasting after Zahir Shah's removal from power in 1973 and the formation of an autocratic Afghanistan republic.
Democracy in Asia can be comparatively assessed according to various definitions of democracy. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, the Asian countries with the highest democracy scores in year 2023 were Taiwan, Japan, Cyprus, Israel, and South Korea, meanwhile the Asian countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are Saudi Arabia, China and Afghanistan. Democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Asia. 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.
The Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean can be compared according to the different definitions of democracy. The V-Dem Democracy indices considers the Latin American and Caribbean countries with the highest democracy scores in 2023 as Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Jamaica and countries with lowest democracy scores as Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. Democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Democratization is reported by V-Dem Democracy Report 2024 in Brazil, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Bolivia.
