Poland records sharp decline in 2015 Economist democracy index

Poland ranks 48th, just ahead of Indonesia and behind Trinidad and Tobago, in this year's edition of the Democracy Index, compiled by the Intelligence Unit of the British weekly, The Economist. Last year, Poland took 40th place. The "Democracy Index 2015: Democracy in an age of anxiety" report reads that "Poland seems to be intent on following Hungary’s example, following the election in October 2015 of the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which then shocked EU observers with the speed with which it went on the offensive against media and judicial institutions, in the name of restoring moral and social traditionalism. Relations between Poland and the EU, and Germany in particular, can be expected to become more awkward under the new government, owing to PiS’s less than accommodating attitude to European integration and European policy on migrant quotas, and its narrower, nation state-based concept of the national interest." The Economist assesses the state of democracy in five categories: Electoral process and pluralism, Functioning of government, Political participation, Political culture, Civil liberties. Norway, Iceland and Sweden top the ranking, while Chad, Syria and North Korea occupy the three bottom spots.