Home  Opinion Sweden Is Top Democracy; Italy `Flawed,' Study Shows |
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Sweden Is Top Democracy; Italy `Flawed,' Study Shows |
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Written by Bloomberg
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Countries including Lebanon, 85th, Russia, 102nd, and Iraq, 112th, fall in the third class of democracies, hybrid regimes.
Nov. 21, 2006- Sweden is the world's most democratic state while Italy, a member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, ranks as a ``flawed'' democracy and fails to make the top category of countries, the Economist said.
Countries are split into four regime types determined by their democratic credentials, according to a list published in the Economist's ``The World In 2007'' report. The classifications are: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes. The U.S., at 17th, and the U.K., at 23rd, ranked in the bottom half of the full democracies.
``A decline in civil liberties and malfunctioning of government accounts for the U.S. position,'' the Economist said in an e-mail late yesterday, citing an erosion of freedom associated with the campaign against terrorism. ``In the U.K., a shocking decline in political participation, alongside some erosion of civil liberties, is the main reason for the comparatively modest ranking.''
The Economist Intelligence Unit awarded 167 countries and territories marks from 1 to 10 for 60 indicators across five broad categories: electoral process, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
The top level, full democracies, comprises 28 countries and is dominated by members of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Sweden beats Iceland and the Netherlands for first place, while France is ranked lower than the U.K., at 24th. Italy, at 34th, doesn't make the top level, falling among the ``flawed democracies.''
France, Italy
``The rating for France is also comparatively low as a result of modest scores for the functioning of government, political participation and political culture,'' the Economist said. ``Italy performs even worse, and falls in the flawed democracies category -- as a result of problems in functioning of government and the electoral process, as well as weaknesses in the political culture.''
Italy fell down in the ``functioning of government'' and ``political participation'' categories, scoring 6.43 and 6.11.
``Politics in Italy, especially at the regional and local level, is conducted by corrupted practices and dodgy dealings,'' Jose Garcia-Zarate, a London-based fixed-income strategist at 4Cast Ltd., who used to live in Italy, said in a telephone interview. ``In Italy, there's not a direct connection between what citizens want and what politicians actually do.''
Two Latin American nations, Costa Rica and Uruguay, made the top category, as did the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. Other countries ranked as ``flawed'' included Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Israel and the world's largest democracy, India.
Iraq Score
Countries including Lebanon, 85th, Russia, 102nd, and Iraq, 112th, fall in the third class of democracies, hybrid regimes.
Iraq scores zero in the functioning government category, a distinction shared only with Afghanistan and Chad. Iraq's score for political participation is higher than Britain's and level with Japan's. The Palestinian Authority, also classed as a flawed democracy, ties for seventh place with Israel and eight other nations for political participation.
North Korea props up the table in 167th, just behind the Central African Republic, Chad, Togo and Myanmar, which, along with most Middle Eastern nations, fall in the bottom group of countries, authoritarian regimes.
The following is a table of the five most democratic nations according to the Economist's annual ranking, and selected other nations, along with their scores (from 1 to 10):
Ranking Table
Rank Country Score (/10)
1. Sweden 9.88
2. Iceland 9.71
3. Netherlands 9.66
4. Norway 9.55
5. Denmark 9.52
16. Spain 8.34
17. U.S. 8.22
20. Japan 8.15
23. U.K. 8.08
24. France 8.07
29. South Africa 7.91
34. Italy 7.73
35. India 7.68
42. Brazil 7.38
85. Lebanon
102. Russia 5.02
112. Iraq 4.01
138. China 2.97
167. North Korea 1.03
By Alex Morales
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