The African continent has only one “full democracy” and it is the island of Mauritius, according to the latest Democracy Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). This year’s report examines the state of global democracy in 2022.
The Democracy Index, which began in 2006, provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two territories. This covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s states (microstates are excluded). The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then classified as one of four types of regime: “full democracy”, “flawed democracy”, “hybrid regime” or “authoritarian regime”.
According to the 2022 Democracy Index, 72 of the 167 countries and territories covered by the model, or 43.1% of the total, can be considered to be democracies. The number of “full democracies” increased to 24 in 2022, up from 21 in 2021, as Chile, France, and Spain re-joined the top-ranked countries (those scoring more than 8.00 out of 10). The number of “flawed democracies” fell by five to 48 in 2022. Of the remaining 95 countries in the index, 59 are “authoritarian regimes”, the same as in 2021, and 36 are classified as “hybrid regimes”, up from 34 the previous year.
2022 | A disappointing year for democracy
“From a global perspective, the year 2022 was a disappointing one for democracy, given expectations that there might be a rebound in the overall index score as pandemic-related prohibitions were lifted over the course of the year. Instead, the average global score stagnated. At 5.29, it scarcely improved from the 5.28 recorded in 2021. This leaves the index score well below the pre-pandemic global average of 5.44 and even further below the historical high of 5.55 recorded in 2014 and 2015 (and also in 2008, just before the global financial crisis),” say the authors of the report.
The Nordics (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark) dominate the top tier of the Democracy Index rankings, taking five of the top six spots, with New Zealand claiming second place. Norway remains the top-ranked country in the Democracy Index, thanks to its high scores across all five categories of the index, especially electoral process and pluralism, political culture, and political participation.
The developed countries of western Europe dominate among the world’s “full democracies”, accounting for 14 of the total of 24 in 2022. Canada is the sole “full democracy” in North America, as the US continues to languish as a “flawed democracy”, where it was relegated in 2016. Asia and Australasia region has five “full democracies”, including three Asian ones (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) alongside Australia and New Zealand. Three Latin American countries are classed as “full democracies” (Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay), as is one African country (Mauritius).
Africa
The African continent has only one “full democracy” Mauritius and six “flawed democracies” in 2022, unchanged from the 2021 index. The number of countries classed as “hybrid regimes”, at 14, also remains unchanged from the 2021 index. Authoritarian forms of government continue to dominate, with 23 countries still classified as such.
The island of Mauritius recorded an overall score of 8,14 points and is 21 in the global ranking. Botswana follows in second position with 7,73 points (32nd globally). Cabo Verde is in third position in the Sub Saharan region, with a score of 7,65 (35th worldwide). South Africa is fourth with 7,05 points and 45th place in the world.
Russia registers the biggest deterioration
There were impressive democratic gains in some countries, but also some dramatic declines. Thailand recorded the biggest overall score improvement in 2022, increasing its total from 6.04 in 2021 to 6.67. Other big improvers were Angola and Niger, from a low base in the “authoritarian regime” category, and Montenegro and Greece, which are both classified as “flawed democracies”. Having improved its score by 0.41 points, Greece is now close to being reclassified as a “full democracy”.
Foremost among the countries that performed poorly in 2022 was Russia, which had the biggest deterioration in the score of any country in the world. Russia’s score dropped by 0.96 points to 2.28 from 3.24 in 2021 and its global ranking fell from 124th (out of 167) to 146th, close to the bottom of the global rankings. Belarus, whose president Alyaksandar Lukashenka is closely allied with his Russian counterpart, also suffered a sharp fall in its Democracy Index score. Other countries that registered a sharp decline in their index scores, also from a low base, included Burkina Faso in west Africa, where an Islamist insurgency has resulted in the state losing control of vast swathes of territory, the displacement of about 1.7 million people and the deaths of thousands. Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, appears to be in a state of internal dissolution, as the authorities have lost control completely. Several countries in Latin America, including El Salvador and Mexico, register big negative changes in their scores in 2022. In the Middle East and North Africa, the worst-performing region in terms of its absolute score and its year-on-year score change, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan all register sharp declines in their scores.
Democracy Index 2022 (Best Score | Top 22)
Democracy Index 2022 (Least Score)
