DUSHANBE, December 22, 2011, Asia-Plus – The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has listed Tajikistan among authoritarian regimes again.
Tajikistan is ranked 151st among 167 countries in the 2011 Democracy Index compiled by the EIU, two places lower compared to 2010.
The Democracy Index is an index examining the state of democracy in 167 countries, attempting to quantify this with an Economist Intelligence Unit Index of Democracy which focused on five general categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The countries are categorized into “Full Democracies”, “Flawed Democracies”, “Hybrid Regimes” (all considered democracies), and “Authoritarian Regimes” (considered dictatorial). The five category indices, which all are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the democracy index for a given country. Finally, the democracy index, rounded to one decimal, decides the classification of the country, as quoted: full democracies—scores of 8-10; flawed democracies—scores of 6 to 7.9; hybrid regimes—scores of 4 to 5.9; and authoritarian regimes—scores below 4.
The results of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index 2011 show that democracy has been under intense pressure in many parts of the world. In most regions the average democracy score for 2011 is lower than in 2010, including the developed countries of North America and Western Europe. There was a decline in the average score for Eastern Europe and small declines for both Asia and Latin America. These were offset by increase in average scores in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to EIU’s Democracy Index 2011, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Finland and the Netherlands are in the top ten, while Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Chad and North Korea are at the bottom.
It is to be noted that the majority of the CIS nations are listed among the Authoritative Regimes. Russia was downgraded from the hybrid regime category to the authoritative regime category, falling ten places from 107th to 117th.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is part of the Economist Group. It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986. It is particularly well known for its monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports and industry reports. The company also specializes in tailored research for companies that require analysis for particular markets or business sectors.
