The 2021 Global Democracy Index: how democratic is your homeland?

Global democracy is in decline, and less than half of the world's population lives under a form of democratic government. These are the results of the latest edition of the Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which takes into account the events of 2021.

The Democracy Index is an annual survey that ranks the level of democracy in 167 countries. Per The Economist, the Democracy Index uses a ranking system that measures five elements: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture, and civil liberties.

The latest edition of this study has found that only 6.4% of the world's population lives in a country with full democracy and a shocking 1/3 of the world lives under authoritarian rule.

The report indicates that these negative results have been influenced by two straight years of living with the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020, 49.4% of the world population was considered to be living in a democracy of some kind or another. However, the number went down to just 45.7% in 2021.

So how does your homeland fair? Are you one of the elites who live in a true full democracy? Click on to read how some of the most powerful countries in the world ranked.

According to the report, Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland are the top five most democratic countries globally.

Seeing New Zealand on the top five list for democracy may come as a surprise for some, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been heavily criticized for her strict pandemic measures. However, New Zealand is in second place scoring 9.37/10 overall and 9.71 in the category of civil liberties.

In total, there are twenty-one countries listed as "full democracies," according to the report. Those countries and their respective overall scores are: Denmark 9.09, Ireland 9.00, Taiwan 8.99, Australia 8.90, Switzerland 8.90, Netherlands 8.88, Canada 8.87, Uruguay 8.85, Luxembourg 8.68, Germany 8.67, South Korea 8.16, Japan 8.15, United Kingdom 8.10, Mauritius 8.08, Austria 8.07, Costa Rica 8.07.

Of those countries listed as a full democracy in 2021, Canada saw a sharp decline in its score, which fell by 0.37 points compared to the country's score in 2020.

The study found a "worrying trend of disaffection among Canada's citizens with traditional democratic institutions and increased levels of support for non-democratic alternatives, such as a rule by experts or the military."

It seems that strict government rules during the pandemic caused Canadians to feel they have less control over their lives.

The study suggests that "Canada's worsening score raises questions about whether it might begin to suffer from some of the same afflictions as its US."

The Democracy Index found that 53 nations are now considered "flawed democracies." Both Spain and Chile were downgraded from full democracy status to flawed democracy in the 2021 report.

In 2021 Spain's score went down just 0.18 points, but that was enough for the country to go down in the category of flawed democracy.

According to the Democracy Index, the lower score that Spain received is mainly due to issues with "judicial independence, related to political divisions over the appointment of new magistrates to the General Council of the Judiciary."

In addition, Spain's score suffered due to parliamentary fragmentation, several corruption scandals, and the way the central governement dealt with the Catalan independence movement.

The United States continues to be "stuck" in the flawed democracy category as well. However, despite the Capitol riots and Donald Trump's attempts to have the Presidential election overturned, the country's democracy score only fell 0.07 points.

The Democracy Index reported 34 hybrid regimes worldwide in the 2021 report, one less than the 35 found in 2020. Among those countries are: Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Morrocco, and Kenya, for example.

Fifty-nine countries were classified as authoritarian regimes, increasing by two, as there were 57 in 2020.

There was an important change of those listed as the least democratic countries. Afghanistan and Myanmar "took" the bottom position from North Korea.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic ranked just above North Korea, putting them among the least democratic countries worldwide.

Several threats to democracy were found by the EIU's report for 2022 and the coming years. The report claims that "the biggest challenge to the Western model of democracy over the coming years will come from China."

Over the past forty years, China's rapid growth has resulted in it becoming the world's second-biggest economy. China is expected to surpass the United States within the next decade.

However, the report highlights that a lack of civil rights, the ever present censorship along with a very aggressive interventionist foreign policy pose a significant threat to global democracy. Recent events in Russia have also highlighted the lack of freedom and democracy in Russia as well.