Mauritius ranked 16th on EIU Democracy Index 2017

Mauritius ranked 16th on EIU Democracy Index 2017, gaining 2 positions compared to 2016

According to the EIU Democracy Index 2017 report is the Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories. This covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s states (microstates are excluded). The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: “full democracy”; “flawed democracy”; “hybrid regime”; and “authoritarian regime”.

The results of the Democracy Index 2017 shows that Norway tops the global ranking in 2017 with a total score of 9.98.  Followed by Iceland (9.59) and Sweden (9.39) and New Zeeland (9.26) coming in the fourth place.  North Korea remains in the last place with a total score of 1.08.  Mauritius had a global ranking of 16th place with a total score of 8.22, gaining two positions in comparison to 2016.

The results of the Democracy Index 2017 regarding Sub-Saharan Africa shows the average score of 4.35.  The report states that political participation and political culture have improved over the past five years (albeit with a few notable exceptions), but this has been offset by deteriorating scores for civil liberties and the functioning of government. Moreover, while elections have become commonplace across much of the region, the regional score for electoral processes has remained persistently low, reflecting a lack of genuine pluralism in most countries.  South Africa had a total score of 7.24 which gave them the global ranking of 41st.  South Africa is also classified as a “flawed democracy”.  Gambia managed to change from “authoritarian” to “hybrid regime” and the country’s score also rose by more than any other country in the entire 2017 index, and by a considerable margin.   Mauritius stands far above the average score for Sub-Saharan Africa and it is important to note that Mauritius is the only Sub-Saharan African country that is classified as a “full democracy”.

Please click HERE to read the full EIU Democracy Index 2017

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EIU Democracy Index 2017