List of the most and least democratic countries

Thought this was interesting, notice anything particular about the nations on the list?

Malaysia isn't on that list? Neither is the U.S. of A or Liberia?

Yes, some things, first, can you link to the site were you found this, would like to see more then 15% of the list. Now observations....

In the top 15 each of the countires, all of the countires are either Europian, or of Direct European colizination in the last few hundred years...

Now in the bottem 15%, well, i wouldn't have chosen any of those as a vacation destinaition, to say the least, but looking deeper, this list is comprised of a mix of impverished African Countries, islamic Arab countires and some Asian countries...

Notcible missing from the list are Hugo Chavez and his 'democracy' in Venezuela, where the lovable president has envoke a Castro like provision to allow him to stay in office indefinatly, also missing is Castro and Cuba, who has been in control of cuba longer then some Countries on the list have existed as thier stated names...

reply to post by TKainZero

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The list is from the web site of The Economist, the most respected business and current affairs magazine in the world. It's as trustworthy as such things ever get.

Don't let the absence of Venezuela from the Bottom 15 trouble you much. I read The Economist every week. It frequently carries articles on Venezuela, the erosion of rights and liberties in that country and the ongoing concentration of power in the hands of President Chavez. These articles normally portray Chavez as a combination of cunning would-be tyrant and bumptious clown.

The absence of the United States and Britain from the Top 15 is also understandable. These countries are democratic but by no means the most democratic in the world. Take the example of Britain, a country without a written Constitution, in which enormous power is concentrated in Parliament and the office of Prime Minister (the British PM, in theory at least, wields far more power than the US President). Checks on these powers by other institutions of State, such as the House of Lords and the Privy Council, are widely deemed insufficient by political scientists. The British government is not an outstandingly transparent institution and it consults the public on issues of state far less often than the European countries above it on the list.

reply to post by TKainZero

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It's actually a provision that removes presidential term limits. Much like how the United States ran until 1951. Much like our own 22nd amendment that now prevents that, this provision has to win a certain amount of votes among the people of Venezuela to go into effect. if it does, all it does is allow people who have served in office to run for that office as many times as they can afford. In effect this is actually more democratic than the way the US works presidential elections by allowing the people of the nation to keep electing a popular president.

'Cause you know, the '88 and '00 US elections sure got people fired up, huh?

wooo... MALTA!

anyway, my little bit of national pride aside, it's not actually that surprising. the USA wouldn't make it to the top of the list because of the influence that lobbyists have

edit:
oh, i'd like to point out something else

the #1 country on the list is the most atheistic country on the planet


[edit on 10/28/07 by madnessinmysoul]

I can't help but find a bit of injustice at the fact the U.S. is put below these countries.

However, I can't help but notice democratic presidential systems have a tendency to be put low on the list. Hell, I think any list that puts India in the top 50 is composed by some delusional people.

I guess these lists are always good for laughs though.

I am shocked to read that Sweden, the Kingdom of Sweden, is number one. How can a country with a monarchy system be the most democratic nation in the world?

WTF

Because the king does nothing Mr. Democratic (Monarchist) Briton. The again I'm Canadian so it takes one to know one.

If Canada's the tenth most democratic country (and we're only a crappy first past the post system with three political parties) then I'd hate to live in the 11th.

Far be it from me to discredit a reliable source such as that of the economist, but i'm a little concerned as to the factors attributing to the total score.

In all honesty it looks like someone has taken a view of Sweden and North Korea and drawn up the point system based on those two polarised examples, instead of taking into account such things as the history of a democratic (or not such) nation.

Like the American Revolution, for example - a clear example of democracy triumphing over tyranny.

I can't help but wonder whether or not a factor like this was taken into consideration, as in an actual example of Democratic pursuit - A clear sign of a country's Democratic interests.

After all, basing a list of the most and least democratic countries based purely on how the leader chooses to run his country shows ignorance of how important history is, and how it affects modern day society.



Why would you want to point that out, exactly?

Last i checked about 80% of the population went to one church or the other, so that's little different from anywhere else.