The Economist’s Intelligence Unit released their annual Global Democracy Index this week. The report ranks every country’s overall state of democracy based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. The results of the report indicate that 2020 was a bad year for democracy globally, with 70% of countries recording a decline in their overall score. The global average fell to the lowest level since the index began in 2006, with 23 countries recorded as “full democracies,” 52 as “flawed democracies,” 35 as “hybrid regimes,” and 57 as “authoritarian regimes.” Read on to learn how the Americas performed.
Full democracies
Only four countries in the Americas were ranked as full democracies: Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, and Uruguay, with scores of 9.24, 8.16, 8.28, and 8.61, respectively.
Flawed democracies
Most countries in the Americas qualified for the “flawed democracy” category. The countries that fell in this category are: The United States (7.92), Mexico (6.07), Jamaica (7.13), Dominican Republic (6.32), Panama (7.18), Colombia (7.04), Trinidad and Tobago (7.16), Guyana (6.01), Suriname (6.82), French Guiana (7.99, shared with France), Ecuador (6.13), Peru (6.53), Brazil (6.92), Argentina (6.95), and Paraguay (6.18). The United States was demoted to the “flawed democracy” category in 2016, and has retained its rank as 25th most democratic nation in the world, though its scored dropped from 7.96 the previous year. The 2020 report cited the former president and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election results with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as part of its calculus.
Hybrid regimes
Five countries classified as “hybrid regimes.” These countries are: Guatemala (4.97), El Salvador (5.90), Honduras (5.36), Haiti (4.22), and Bolivia (5.08).
Authoritarian regimes
Lastly, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela qualified for the category of “authoritarian regimes,” with scores of 2.84, 3.60, and 2.76, respectively.
For an interactive map of every country’s score and ranking, click here.