Democracy and Political Regimes

Characteristics of Non-Democratic Regimes

  • Infringement of civil liberties.
  • State-owned media controlled by the ruling party.
  • Repression of criticism and pervasive censorship.
  • Lack of an independent judiciary; the judiciary and executive branches are unified.

Democracy Index 2023

  • Full Democracies: Predominantly in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Latin America.
  • Flawed Democracies: Includes the US, parts of Latin America, India, and many Eastern European countries.
  • Hybrid and Authoritarian Regimes: Mainly located in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

Change in Democracy Over Time

  • Democracy index from 2006 to 2023 shows a decline in the level of democracy across most groups of countries, indicating a global trend towards more rightist authoritarian systems.

Comparison Between Western and Eastern Europe

  • Western Europe: Demonstrates strong democratic governance.
    • 15 countries are classified as full democracies out of 24 globally in 2023.
    • Excels in electoral process, pluralism (multiple parties with diverse agendas), functioning government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
  • Eastern Europe: Shows poorer performance in democracy indices compared to Western Europe.
    • More countries in the authoritarian and flawed democracy categories.
    • Notably worse in political culture compared to the global average.
    • No country classified as a full democracy.

Individual Country Analysis (Western Europe)

  • Generally, Western European countries perform well in functioning government.
  • Turkey: Considered a hybrid regime with corruption, not fully democratic but also not autocratic.
  • Belgium: Considered a flawed democracy. Previously faced issues with political participation and election difficulties.

Global Comparison

  • Western European countries consistently score above the global average in democracy indices.

Eastern Europe and the Former USSR

  • Countries formerly part of the USSR perform poorly across all measured aspects of democracy, including civil liberties, political culture, functioning government, and electoral process and pluralism.

Additional Democracy Measures

  • The Quality of Government website provides data on various political indices, including freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and political freedom.
  • Freedom House surveys contribute to over 40 democracy-related measures.

Upcoming Topics

  • The next lecture will link democracy to political institutions with economic impacts.
  • Economic causes and consequences of political institutions will be examined.
  • Topics to be covered:
    • Democracy and property rights.
    • Democracy's effect on income distribution.
    • The relationship between democracy, economic growth, and income inequality.
    • Trade and democracy.
    • Dani Roderick's political trilemma (similar to the exchange rate monetary policy trilemma in finance) in the context of globalization and politics.