Democracy in Europe

Last updated
Map of 2023 V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index for Europe
.mw-parser-output .col-begin{border-collapse:collapse;padding:0;color:inherit;width:100%;border:0;margin:0}.mw-parser-output .col-begin-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .col-break{vertical-align:top;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .col-break-2{width:50%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-3{width:33.3%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-4{width:25%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-5{width:20%}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .col-begin,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr>td{display:block!important;width:100%!important}.mw-parser-output .col-break{padding-left:0!important}}
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
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 V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index 2023 Europe.svg
Map of 2023 V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index for Europe

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]

Contents

Changes in democracy

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]

Measures of democracy

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. [7] [10] [11]

V-Dem Democracy Indices (14th edition)
CountryDemocracy IndicesDemocracy Component Indices
ElectoralLiberalLiberalEgalitarianParticipatoryDeliberative
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 0.9150.8830.9770.9720.7160.967
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 0.8960.8310.9330.8750.6340.905
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 0.8950.8450.9550.8870.6380.85
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0.8950.8140.9090.9310.6480.91
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 0.890.8440.9620.9310.8820.98
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 0.8860.8360.9550.9610.6550.988
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 0.8840.8520.980.9030.6510.905
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 0.8780.7980.910.9390.5780.975
Flag of France.svg  France 0.8770.810.930.8110.6320.939
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 0.8710.8050.9330.9130.5850.88
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 0.860.820.9720.8960.6370.942
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 0.8560.8120.9670.9410.6620.976
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 0.8540.80.9510.8910.620.943
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 0.8520.7720.9140.810.660.843
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 0.8520.7680.9080.8620.6740.825
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 0.8450.7510.8870.7950.6110.872
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 0.8440.7730.9260.8930.650.827
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 0.8430.7570.9020.8410.6450.828
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 0.8370.7570.9110.9040.7470.911
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 0.8340.7440.8960.870.6590.845
Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 0.8230.7390.9090.7920.6860.583
Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 0.7980.7350.9380.8680.6920.822
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 0.7790.640.8070.8940.6530.803
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 0.7740.6360.8170.8690.5740.837
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 0.7580.6530.8640.8840.710.867
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 0.7510.5820.7520.8350.6410.868
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 0.7330.6390.8790.7680.6250.68
Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 0.7130.6080.860.80.6650.93
Flag of Kosovo.svg  Kosovo 0.6740.4940.7020.6850.5240.6
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 0.6690.5010.720.6740.6570.35
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 0.6660.5880.8980.760.6630.914
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 0.6340.4220.6110.8110.4420.69
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 0.6040.4730.7610.7840.5420.803
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 0.5880.4440.7290.8770.5550.719
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 0.5810.4670.7850.7710.5610.759
Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 0.560.3590.5840.5980.610.64
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.5120.3460.6160.6550.5270.678
Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 0.510.4020.750.7060.5550.444
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 0.440.3250.6680.6310.5710.361
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 0.4150.2490.50.6540.580.761
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 0.3640.2530.5790.7470.550.486
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 0.2870.1130.2450.530.4160.195
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 0.190.0620.1510.3960.3790.2
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 0.1570.0360.0820.7340.1610.044

By country

Azerbaijan

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. [12]

Belarus

Unfair elections were reported in Belarus. [13]

Georgia

Electoral fraud was reported at the 2024 Georgian parliamentary election. [14]

Russia

Unfair elections were reported in Russia due to political repression [15] 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. [16]

Serbia

At 2023 Serbian parliamentary election electoral fraud was reported. [17]

Turkey

Limited political freedom of the press is reported in Turkey. [18]

See also

References

  1. Geissel, Brigitte; Kneuer, Marianne; Lauth, Hans-Joachim (2016). "Measuring the quality of democracy: Introduction". International Political Science Review. 37 (5). Sage Publications: 571–579. doi:10.1177/0192512116669141. ISSN   0192-5121. JSTOR   26556872. S2CID   151808737 . Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  2. Greenwood, Shannon (2022-12-06). "Appendix A: Classifying democracies". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  3. Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023
  4. Ágh, Attila (2020). "Rethinking the historical trajectory of ECE: From the "original sin" in democratization to redemocratization". Politics in Central Europe. 16 (2): 367–398. doi: 10.2478/pce-2020-0017 .
  5. Sitter, Nick; Bakke, Elisabeth (2019). "Democratic Backsliding in the European Union". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1476. ISBN   978-0-19-022863-7.
  6. Cianetti, Licia, James Dawson, and Seán Hanley. "Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe–looking beyond Hungary and Poland." Rethinking'Democratic Backsliding'in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge, 2020. 1-14.
  7. 1 2 Democracy Report 2024, Varieties of Democracy
  8. The Future of Democracy in Europe Technology and the Evolution of Representation, 2020, Chapham House
  9. Bickerton, Christopher (2018). "Beyond the European void? Reflections on Peter Mair's legacy". European Law Journal. 24 (4–5): 268–280. doi:10.1111/eulj.12287.
  10. V-Dem Institute (2024). "The V-Dem Dataset" . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. Coppedge, Michael; Gerring, John; Glynn, Adam; Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Lindberg, Staffan I.; Pemstein, Daniel; Seim, Brigitte; Skaaning, Svend-Erik; Teorell, Jan (2020). Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108347860. ISBN   978-1-108-34786-0.
  12. Azerbaijan: Repression escalating ahead of presidential elections
  13. Batura, Alyena (2022). "How to Compete in Unfair Elections". Journal of Democracy. 33 (4): 47–61. doi:10.1353/jod.2022.0046. ISSN   1086-3214.
  14. "IRI Releases Final Report on Georgia's Parliamentary Elections". International Republican Institute. 23 December 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  15. SAUVAGE, Grégoire (15 March 2024). "Russia's presidential election: Three Putin challengers but little suspense". France 24. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  16. Wilson, Kenneth (2012). "How Russians View Electoral Fairness: A Qualitative Analysis". Europe-Asia Studies. 64 (1): 145–168. doi:10.1080/09668136.2012.635485. ISSN   0966-8136.
  17. "Serbia's ruling populists claim sweeping victory in election amid vote-rigging accusations". the Guardian. Associated Press. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  18. Akser, Murat; Baybars, Banu (2 January 2023). "Repressed media and illiberal politics in Turkey: the persistence of fear". Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 23 (1): 159–177. doi: 10.1080/14683857.2022.2088647 . ISSN   1468-3857 . Retrieved 19 January 2025.