Filenews 4 February 2021 - by Nikoleta Kourousi
Its harsh view of democratic institutions, testing their limits, was shown by the management of the crowning pandemic by governments, as shown by this year's report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, on the quality of democracy in the world.
The annual survey, which scores the state of the Republic in 167 countries on the basis of five factors - electoral process and pluralism, government functioning, political participation, political culture and civil liberties - finds that only 8.4% of the world's population lives in a full Republic, while more than a third live under authoritarian rules.
It is noted that the global score of 5.37 out of 10 is the lowest recorded since the survey began in 2006.
Champions and tails - The position of Cyprus
At the top of the list, with the countries with the most democratic freedoms, are Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada.
Cyprus is ranked in the category of "problematic democracies" and in particular is in 34th place among 167 independent states and regions, with a score of 7.56 out of 10, a place below Botswana .
The best performance is recorded in the electoral process and pluralism with 9.17.
In political culture it is rated 7.50 and civil liberties with 8.53. However, in the operation of the government it receives only 5.36 and in the political participation 7.22.
70% restriction
According to the available data, democratic freedoms were reduced by 70% globally in 2020 due to the restrictions imposed, which led to a major retreat of democratic libertarians.
Although the phenomenon is global and sharply acute in countries in Africa or the Middle East with authoritarian regimes, the research nevertheless points out that "the most notable in 2020 was the restriction of individual freedoms in advanced democracies".
A typical example is France and Portugal, which have been relegated to the category of 'problematic republics' .
"The voluntary abandonment of fundamental freedoms by millions of people may be one of the most notable events of this unprecedented year, but we cannot conclude that the high acceptance rate of restrictive measures means that citizens value freedom less," commented Joan Hoey, head of research. "It is simply that the public felt, on the basis of the evidence, that the possible avoidance of deaths justified the temporary loss of liberty in the short term," Ms. Hoey noted.
