DUSHANBE, July 2, 2009, Asia-Plus — Nations in Transit 2009, which is the 13th edition of Freedom House’s comprehensive, comparative study of democratic development from Central Europe to Eurasia, listed Tajikistan among the consolidated authoritarian regime.
Nations in Transit 2009 examines 29 countries, including the newest independent state in the region, Kosovo. The overarching conclusion is that 2008 was a very difficult year for democracy: scores declined for 18 of the 29 countries, and a record 8 countries are now in the “consolidated authoritarian regimes” category. Worrying trends highlighted in the previous three editions of Nations in Transit became even more pronounced in 2008, while positive trends lost momentum.
A record eight countries, all former Soviet states, ranked as consolidated authoritarian regimes in Nations in Transit 2009. All five Central Asian states, along with Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Russia, make up the “Authoritarian Eight,” with Kyrgyzstan and Russia entering this category for the first time since the inception of the study. There is a widening gulf between this group of eight and the rest of the countries examined.
Turkmenistan remains the most authoritarian regime of all the countries included in the study, while Uzbekistan has narrowed its distance from the bottom ranking, according to the report.
The trend of democratic decline in authoritarian petro-states that was highlighted in the last edition of the study continued in 2008. While Russia joined the consolidated authoritarian ranks for the first time, it was Azerbaijan that recorded the most significant decline of all the countries examined. Kazakhstan, another petro-state, has made tentative steps towards liberalization, mostly in the judicial sphere, but it nevertheless remained firmly authoritarian as it prepared to assume the OSCE chairmanship in 2010.
Kyrgyzstan’s slide into the consolidated authoritarian category underscores the unfulfilled promise of the “color revolutions.”
For all 29 countries and administrative areas in Nations in Transit 2009, Freedom House, in consultation with the report authors and a panel of academic advisers, has provided numerical ratings in seven categories. The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of democratic progress.
Tajikistan received the following scores for these seven categories: 6.50 for electoral process; 5.75 for civil society (decline); 6.00 for independent media; 6.25 for national democratic governance; 6.00 for local democratic governance; 6.25 for judicial framework and independence (decline); and 6.25 for corruption.
