The Democracy Index provides a snapshot of democracy worldwide in over 160 independent states and a couple territories. Published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) since 2006, the Democracy Index is based on 60 indicators, grouped into five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. In addition to assigning numeric scores and rankings, the Index classifies each country into one of four regime types, described by the EIU as follows:

Full Democracies: Countries in which not only basic political freedoms and civil liberties are respected, but which also tend to be underpinned by a political culture conducive to the flourishing of democracy. The functioning of government is satisfactory. Media are independent and diverse. There is an effective system of checks and balances. The judiciary is independent and judicial decisions are enforced. There are only limited problems in the functioning of democracies.

Flawed Democracies: These countries also have free and fair elections, and even if there are problems (such as infringements on media freedom), basic civil liberties are respected. However, there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including problems in governance, an undeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.

Hybrid Regimes: Elections have substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair. Government pressure on opposition parties and candidates may be common. Serious weaknesses are more prevalent than in flawed democracies – in political culture, functioning of government and political participation. Corruption tends to be widespread and the rule of law is weak. Civil society is weak. Typically, there is harassment of and pressure on journalists, and the judiciary is not independent.

Authoritarian regimes: In these states, state political pluralism is absent or heavily circumscribed. Many countries in this category are outright dictatorships. Some formal institutions of democracy may exist, but these have little substance. Elections, (if they do occur) are not free and fair. There is disregard for abuses and infringements of civil liberties. media are typically state-owned or controlled by groups connected to the ruling regime. There is repression of criticism and pervasive censorship. There is no independent judiciary.

Here’s how the Middle East measures up in the democracy department:

Not so good, except for Israel, which EIU classifies as a Flawed Democracy. The rest are Authoritarian regimes.

How about trends? At least in the case of Israel and Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza Strip), the trends are rather clear:

It looks like Palestine has been steadily drifting downward for well over a decade, from a (just barely) Flawed Democracy in 2006 to an Authoritarian Regime in 2022, while over the same period Israel’s democracy indicators have been slowly improving. I imagine democracy will have taken a hit in both Palestine and Israel over the past year, but that data is not out yet.

How does this information help lay the groundwork for an Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan?

Democratic countries are happier and healthier than autocratic countries, even after controlling for economic factors like wealth and poverty (Tov & Diener, 2009; Barnish, Tørnes, et al, 2018). I want a peace plan that maximizes the wellbeing of people on both sides of the conflict and for that to happen, a peace plan should seek to strengthen the democratic institutions and cultures of both Israel and Palestine. Of course, democracy by itself can’t guarantee good governance, public safety or economic prosperity – but it lays the foundation for their possibility and improvement.

References:

Barnish, M., M. Tørnes, et al. (2018). "How much evidence is there that political factors are related to population health outcomes? An internationally comparative systematic review." BMJ Open 8(10): e020886. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/10/e020886.full

Tov, W., Diener, E. (2009). The Well-Being of Nations: Linking Together Trust, Cooperation, and Democracy. In: Diener, E. (eds) The Science of Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 37. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_7

The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Democracy Index, 2023.   https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2023/  Data accessed on May 12, 2024.

Our World in Data, The Democracy Index https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu?tab=table Data accessed on May 12, 2024.