The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) just released its 2024 Democracy Index (DI) measuring the quality of democracy across the world. In this year’s DI, the US is classified as a flawed democracy with the same overall score as the last two years. The EIU defines flawed democracies as countries with free and fair elections where civil rights are respected but with problems in other aspects of democracy, including functioning of government, political participation, and political culture.
While US electoral processes, civil liberties and political participation got high marks in the current DI, we did relatively poorly on government functioning and political culture. As noted in last year’s DI report, the US suffers from “intense political and cultural polarization” that has led to a collapse of social cohesion and consensus “as disagreements over an expanding list of issues have fuelled the country’s ‘culture wars’”, leading to a polarization that:
“has long compromised the functioning of government in the US …Pluralism and competing alternatives are essential for a functioning democracy, but differences of opinion in the US have hardened into political sectarianism and almost permanent institutional gridlock” (Democracy Index 2023).
Ok, so the US is a flawed democracy. But only somewhat flawed* and we’re still a democracy. Yet I know plenty of people who are convinced that Trump will destroy our precious democracy in the not-so-distant future. To counter this hysteria, the Economist offers some excellent advice:
“A sanity-preserving maxim among observers of Mr Trump is to pay attention not to what he says but to what he does. Better yet, pay attention not to what he says or does but to what the courts allow him to do. By this standard, Mr Trump’s first-month frenzy is likely to fall well short of a constitutional crisis. (The Economist, Donald Trump is a reckless president, but not yet a lawless one. February 22, 2025)
To better gauge the state of democracy in America, I suggest pondering the questions used by the Democracy Index to assess the state of democracy across the world. Here they are**:
I Electoral process and pluralism
Are elections for the national legislature and head of government free?
Are elections for the national legislature and head of government fair?
Are municipal elections both free and fair?
Is there universal suffrage for all adults?
Can citizens cast their vote free of significant threats to their security from state or non-state bodies?
Do laws provide for broadly equal campaigning opportunities?
Is the process of financing political parties transparent and generally accepted?
Following elections, are the constitutional mechanisms for the orderly transfer of power from one government to another clear, established and accepted?
Are citizens free to form political parties that are independent of the government?
Do opposition parties have a realistic prospect of achieving government?
Is potential access to public office open to all citizens?
Are citizens allowed to form political and civic organisations, free of state interference and surveillance?
II Functioning of Government
Do freely elected representatives determine government policy?
Is the legislature the supreme political body, with a clear supremacy over other branches of government?
Is there an effective system of checks and balances on the exercise of government authority?
Government is free of undue influence by the military or the security services.
Foreign powers and organisations do not determine important government functions or policies.
Do special economic, religious or other powerful domestic groups exercise significant political power, parallel to democratic institutions?
Are sufficient mechanisms and institutions in place for ensuring government accountability to the electorate in between elections?
Does the government’s authority extend over the full territory of the country?
Is the functioning of government open and transparent, with sufficient public access to information?
How pervasive is corruption?
Is the civil service willing to and capable of implementing government policy?
Popular perceptions of the extent to which citizens have free choice and control over their lives.
Public confidence in government.
Public confidence in political parties.
III Political Participation
Voter participation/turn-out for national elections.
Do ethnic, religious and other minorities have a reasonable degree of autonomy and voice in the political process?
Women in parliament.
Extent of political participation. Membership of political parties and political non-governmental organisations.
Citizens’ engagement with politics.
The preparedness of population to take part in lawful demonstrations.
Adult literacy.
Extent to which adult population shows an interest in and follows politics in the news.
The authorities make a serious effort to promote political participation.
IV Democratic political culture
Is there a sufficient degree of societal consensus and cohesion to underpin a stable, functioning democracy?
Perceptions of leadership; proportion of the population that desires a strong leader who bypasses parliament and elections.
Perceptions of military rule; proportion of the population that would prefer military rule.
Perceptions of rule by experts or technocratic government; proportion of the population that would prefer rule by experts or technocrats.
Perception of democracy and public order; proportion of the population that believes that democracies are not good at maintaining public order.
Perception of democracy and the economic system; proportion of the population that believes that democracy benefits economic performance.
Degree of popular support for democracy.
There is a strong tradition of the separation of Church and State.
V Civil liberties
Is there a free electronic media?
Is there a free print media?
Is there freedom of expression and protest (bar only generally accepted restrictions, such as banning advocacy of violence)?
Is media coverage robust? Is there open and free discussion of public issues, with a reasonable diversity of opinions?
Are there political restrictions on access to the Internet?
Are citizens free to form professional organisations and trade unions?
Do institutions provide citizens with the opportunity to petition government to redress grievances?
The use of torture by the state.
The degree to which the judiciary is independent of government influence.
The degree of religious tolerance and freedom of religious expression.
The degree to which citizens are treated equally under the law.
Do citizens enjoy basic security? (related to crime levels/public safety)
Extent to which private property rights are protected and private business is free from undue government influence
Extent to which citizens enjoy personal freedoms.
Popular perceptions on protection of human rights; proportion of the population that think that basic human rights are well-protected.
There is no significant discrimination on the basis of people’s race, colour or religious beliefs.
Extent to which the government invokes new risks and threats as an excuse for curbing civil liberties.
* The US Democracy Index score has been 7.85 for three years. What the DI calls “full democracies” start with a score of 8. Improve our political culture and government functioning and we’re there.
** Substitute “Congress” for “parliament”.
References:
Distribution of democracy index, 2023. Data source: Economist Intelligence Unit. Processed by Our World in Data. Last updated: May 22, 2024. Link: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-democracy-index-eiu
The Economist Democracy Index/Wikipedia. (Good summary of 2024 findings) Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index
The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Democracy Index, 2023. https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy-Index-2023-Final-report.pdf