World democracy to be in deteriorating condition
16:23
For the second year in a row, the pandemic negatively affected the condition of democracy in the world. Most countries have recorded a decline in this indicator, and Poland is still among the countries with a flawed democracy, according to the 2021 Democracy Index, prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The index has been compiled since 2006 and presents the state of democracy in 167 countries. It covers five categories – the electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. On their basis, countries are classified into one of four types of regime: "full democracy", "flawed democracy", "hybrid regime" or "authoritarian regime".
Most countries recorded a deterioration in the condition of democracy or stagnation last year, and only 47 countries (28.1 percent) improved their results. 74 countries recorded a decline.
Similarly to 2021, Norway topped this year's ranking, ahead of New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark. The list of countries with full democracy is closed by Costa Rica, followed by France (as a flawed democracy) (22nd position).
This group also includes all the countries of the Visegrad Group, with Poland, ranked 51st (a drop by one place compared to 2020), Hungary 56th, Slovakia 45th, and the Czech Republic 29th.
