Tag Archives: Democracy

Is the USA the most free and democratic country in the world?

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Is the USA the most free and democratic country in the world?

I checked five different indices of freedom and democracy provided by various researchers. My initial idea was to show the top 10 ranking countries of every index. However, the USA does not manage into the top 10 anywhere. So, I checked what countries rank better than the USA on those indices. Apparently its neighbour Canada, The Netherlands – one of the oldest democracies in the world, also New Zealand, Denmark and Switzerland rank better on all five indices. Countries like Estonia, Taiwan and Uruguay rank better on 3. Fund fact – the United Arab Emirates, one obviously not-so-free country ranks better than the USA on Economic Freedom Index.

So, If we talk about FREEDOM we talk about THE NETHERLANDS.

What: Difference in ranking compared to the USA on the following indices.
Index, When, Source:
Democracy Index, 2019, EIU
Human Freedom Index, 2017, The Human Freedom Index 2018: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom
Economic Freedom Index, 2020, The Heritage Foundation
Moral Freedom Index, 2020, The Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty
Press Freedom Index, 2020, Reporters Without Borders
Where: 172 countries were ranked on at least 3 of these indices.

Is democracy essential for economic freedom?

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Is democracy essential for economic freedom?

There are few real communist regimes left around the world, and even those are not really communist. So, maybe democracy and economic freedom do not correlate well? Apparently, they do. Democracy and economic freedom go together!

What: Democracy Index and Economic Freedom Index
When: 2018 for Democracy and 2019 for Economic Freedom Index, which covers years 2017-2018.
Where: 162 countries of the world
Source: EIU for Democracy Index and The Heritage Foundation for Economic Freedom Index

Is democracy essential for human freedom?

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Is democracy essential for human freedom?

There is such Human Freedom Index, covering a wide range of areas including freedom of religion, freedom of movement, freedom to trade and many more. After plotting this index against the Democracy Index I saw a super clear relationship: democracy and freedom go together!

What: Human Freedom Index and Democracy Index
When: 2016
Where: 157 countries of the world
Source: EIU for Democracy Index and Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik, The Human Freedom Index 2018: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom (Washington: Cato Institute, Fraser Institute, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, 2018).

Is the situation of democracy improving in the world?

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Is the situation of democracy improving in the world?

The short answer is no – it is deteriorating. The world’s average Democracy Index decreased during the period from 2006 to 2018. In more parts of the world it is decreasing rather than increasing.

What: Democracy Index – the difference between regional averages in 2018 and 2006.
When: 2006 and 2018
Where: 167 countries grouped to regions
Source: EIU

Do democracies live better?

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Do democracies live better?

Let’s say Human Development Index indicates this “betterness” of life, and the Democracy Index indicates how democratic a country is. Then it is visible, that only democraciest democracies show a positive trend. Countries below score of 6 lose that clear correlation, because some countries managed to provide good living conditions for their citizens without being democratic. Most of them have oil.

What: Human Development Index (HDI) and Democracy Index
When: 2017
Where: 165 countries of the world
Source: UNDP for HDI and EIU for Democracy Index