Thread: The Democracy Index, by the Economist Intelligence Unit

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The Index was first produced in 2006, with updated lists produced in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

According to this index, the twenty most democratic nations on Earth are:
1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Sweden
5. New Zealand
6. Australia
7. Switzerland
8. Canada
9. Finland
10. The Netherlands
11. Luxembourg
12. Ireland
13. Austria
14. Germany
15. Malta
16. Czech Republic
17. Uruguay
18. United Kingdom
19. United States
20. Costa Rica

The world's three least democratic nations are Turmenistan, Chad, and North Korea.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

Does anything about this Index surprise you? What do you think makes Norway, Iceland, and Denmark so democratic. Most people here are probably American or British, why are these nations trailing behind seventeen others? The first five have relatively small populations. Is it possible small countries have an advantage?

I like to read these types of lists all the time, just for the sake of reading it and knowing something. I notice that of the top 10 democratic nations, 7 of them are European. I also notice that many of these same nations that get good rankings as far as democracies go, also get those same rankings in other lists like Corruption Perception, Globalization and global peace. I'd say they consistently get good marks in everything because they don't flaunt their economies, have somewhat more decent political officials which cuts down on corruption and maintains good foreign relations with everyone.