Azerbaijan at 148th Place on Level of Democracy

The international organization The Economist Intelligence Unit has announced Democracy Index for the year 2016.

According to the report, nearly half of the countries are considered to be democratic, but the number of "full democracies" decreased from 20 to 19 in 2016. Even the United States was withdrawn from the list of "full democracies" and put in the list of countries with a "flawed democracy". The authors attribute this to the fact that the credibility of the government and elected officials in the US decreased, informs Radio Azadliq.

On the level of democracy Azerbaijan is located on the 148^th place among 165 countries, and this figure is lower than in Zimbabwe (140), Gambia (143), Djibouti (145), Bahrain (146), and the UAE (147).

Among the Caucasian countries for the level of democracy the leader is Georgia – 78^th place, while Armenia is No. 120. Turkey is No. 97, Russia is No. 134, and Iran is No. 154.

In compiling the index The Economist Intelligence Unit considers five broad categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, government activities, public participation in the political life of the country, and political culture.

There are four types of regimes classified: full democracy, imperfect democracy, transitional regime, and authoritarian regime.

The report also states that the regimes in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are more pluralistic than in Azerbaijan.

Norway topped the "full democracies" list last year. It is followed by Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark; Canada and Ireland are at the sixth place. -02D-