U.S. Designated A “Flawed” Democracy – Ranks 25th; Canada Ranks 7th – Here’s Why

The Democracy Index, as reported below, measures the state of democracy in 167 countries…[It] is based on 60 indicators grouped in 5 different categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture….[and] categorizes each country in one of 4 regime types: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes.

Source

Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have:

• a valid system of governmental checks and balances,
• an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced,
• governments that function adequately,
• diverse and independent media [and]…
• only limited problems in democratic functioning.

Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honoured but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including:

• underdeveloped political culture,
• low levels of participation in politics,
• and issues in the functioning of governance.

In 2016, the United States was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy; its score, which had been declining for some years, crossed the threshold from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.98 in 2016. The report states that this was caused by a myriad of factors dating back to at least the late 1960s which have eroded Americans’ trust in governmental institutions

Hybrid regimes are nations with regular electoral frauds, preventing them from being fair and free democracy. These nations commonly have:

• governments that apply pressure on political opposition,
• non-independent judiciaries,
• widespread corruption,
• harassment and pressure placed on the media,
• anemic rule of law,
• and more pronounced faults than flawed democracies in the realms of:
  • underdeveloped political culture,
  • low levels of participation in politics,
  • and issues in the functioning of governance.

Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism has vanished or is extremely limited. These nations:

• are often absolute monarchies or  dictatorships,
• may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance,
• infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace,
• elections (if they take place) are not fair and free,
• the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime,
• the judiciary is not independent,
• and omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism.

The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index map for 2019

Rank	Country	Score	Electoral process and pluralism	Functio­ning of govern­ment	Political partici­pation	Political culture	Civil liberties	Regime type	Region[n 1]	Changes from last year
1	Norway	9.87	10.00	9.64	10.00	10.00	9.71	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  Rank:
2	Iceland	9.58	10.00	9.29	8.89	10.00	9.71	Full democracy	Western Europe
3	Sweden	9.39	9.58	9.64	8.33	10.00	9.41	Full democracy	Western Europe
4	New Zealand	9.26	10.00	9.29	8.89	8.13	10.00	Full democracy	Asia & Australasia
5	Finland	9.25	10.00	8.93	8.89	8.75	9.71	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.11 Rank:  3
6	Ireland	9.24	10.00	7.86	8.33	10.00	10.00	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.09 Rank:
7	Denmark	9.22	10.00	9.29	8.33	9.38	9.12	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  Rank:  2
	Canada	9.22	9.58	9.64	7.78	9.38	9.71	Full democracy	North America	Score:  0.07 Rank:  1
9	Australia	9.09	10.00	8.93	7.78	8.75	10.00	Full democracy	Asia & Australasia	Score:  Rank:
10	Switzerland	9.03	9.58	9.29	7.78	9.38	9.12	Full democracy	Western Europe
11	Netherlands	9.01	9.58	9.29	8.33	8.75	9.12	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.12 Rank:
12	Luxembourg	8.81	10.00	8.93	6.67	8.75	9.71	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  Rank:
13	Germany	8.68	9.58	8.57	8.33	7.50	9.41	Full democracy	Western Europe
14	United Kingdom	8.52	9.58	7.50	8.89	7.50	9.12	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.01 Rank:
15	Uruguay	8.38	10.00	8.57	6.11	7.50	9.71	Full democracy	Latin America	Score:  Rank:
16	Austria	8.29	9.58	7.86	8.33	6.88	8.82	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  Rank:
	Spain	8.29	9.58	7.14	7.78	8.13	8.82	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.11 Rank:  3
18	Mauritius	8.22	9.17	8.21	5.56	8.75	9.41	Full democracy	Sub-Saharan Africa	Score:  Rank:  1
19	Costa Rica	8.13	9.58	7.50	6.67	7.50	9.41	Full democracy	Latin America	Score:  0.06 Rank:  1
20	France	8.12	9.58	7.86	7.78	6.88	8.53	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.32 Rank:  9
21	Chile	8.08	9.58	8.57	5.00	8.13	9.12	Full democracy	Latin America	Score:  0.11 Rank:  2
22	Portugal	8.03	9.58	7.86	6.11	7.50	9.12	Full democracy	Western Europe	Score:  0.19 Rank:  5
23	South Korea	8.00	9.17	7.86	7.22	7.50	8.24	Flawed democracy	Asia & Australasia	Score:  Rank:  2
24	Japan	7.99	8.75	8.21	6.67	7.50	8.82	Flawed democracy	Asia & Australasia
25	United States	7.96	9.17	7.14	7.78	7.50	8.24	Flawed democracy	North America	Score:  Rank: