60 Indicators of Democracy

60 Indicators of Democracy  

The Factors That Define Democracy (From The Economist Intelligence Unit's index of democracy)

I Electoral process and pluralism

1. Are elections for the national legislature and head of government free?
Consider whether elections are competitive in that electors are free to vote and are offered a range of choices.

1: Essentially unrestricted conditions for the presentation of candidates (for example, no bans on major parties)
0.5: There are some restrictions on the electoral process
0: A single-party system or major impediments exist (for example, bans on a major party or candidate) 

2. Are elections for the national legislature and head of government fair?

1: No major irregularities in the voting process
0.5: Significant irregularities occur (intimidation, fraud), but do not affect significantly the overall outcome
0: Major irregularities occur and affect the outcome
Score 0 if score for question 1 is 0. 

3. Are municipal elections both free and fair?

1: Are free and fair
0.5: Are free but not fair
0: Are neither free nor fair

4. Is there universal suffrage for all adults?
Bar generally accepted exclusions (for example, non-nationals; criminals; members of armed forces in some countries).

1: Yes 
0: No

5. Can citizens cast their vote free of significant threats to their security from state or non-state bodies?

1: Yes 
0: No

6. Do laws provide for broadly equal campaigning opportunities?

1: Yes
0.5: Yes formally, but in practice opportunities are limited for some candidates
0: No

7. Is the process of financing political parties transparent and generally accepted?

1: Yes
0.5: Not fully transparent 
0: No

8. Following elections, are the constitutional mechanisms for the orderly transfer of power from one government to another clear, established and accepted? 

1: All three criteria are fulfilled
0.5: Two of the three criteria are fulfilled
0: Only one or none of the criteria is satisfied

9. Are citizens free to form political parties that are independent of the government?

1. Yes
0.5: There are some restrictions 
0: No

10. Do opposition parties have a realistic prospect of achieving government?

1: Yes
0.5: There is a dominant two- party system in which other political forces never have any effective chance of taking part in national government
0: No

11. Is potential access to public office open to all citizens?

1: Yes
0.5: Formally unrestricted, but in practice restricted for some groups, or for citizens from some parts of the country
0: No

12. Are citizens free to form political and civic organisations, free of state interference and surveillance? 
1: Yes 
0.5: Officially free, but subject to some restrictions or interference
0: No

II Functioning of government

13. Do freely elected representatives determine government policy?

1: Yes
0.5: Exercise some meaningful influence
0: No

14. Is the legislature the supreme political body, with a clear supremacy over other branches of government?

1: Yes 
0: No

15. Is there an effective system of checks and balances on the exercise of government authority?

1: Yes
0.5: Yes, but there are some serious flaws
0: No

16. Government is free of undue influence by the military or the security services.

1: Yes
0.5: Influence is low, but the defence minister is not a civilian. If the current risk of a military coup is extremely low, but the country has a recent history of military rule or coups
0: No

17. Foreign powers do not determine important government functions or policies.

1: Yes
0.5: Some features of a protectorate
0: No (significant presence of foreign troops; important decisions taken by foreign power; country is a protectorate) 

18. Special economic, religious or other powerful domestic groups do not exercise significant political power, parallel to democratic institutions?

1: Yes
0.5: Exercise some meaningful influence 
0: No

19. Are sufficient mechanisms and institutions in place for assuring government accountability to the electorate in between elections?

1: Yes
0.5. Yes, but serious flaws exist 
0: No

20. Does the government’s authority extend over the full territory of the country?

1: Yes
0: No

21. Is the functioning of government open and transparent, with sufficient public access to information?

1: Yes
0.5: Yes, but serious flaws exist 
0: No

22. How pervasive is corruption?

1: Corruption is not a major problem
0.5: Corruption is a significant issue. 
0: Pervasive corruption exists

23. Is the civil service willing and capable of implementing government policy?

1: Yes
0.5. Yes, but serious flaws exist 
0: No

24. Popular perceptions of the extent to which they have free choice and control over their lives

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who think that they have a great deal of choice/control

1 if more than 70% 
0.5 if 50-70%
0 if less than 50%

25. Public confidence in government.

1: High
0.5: Moderate
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in government

1 if more than 40% 0.5 if 25-40%
0 if less than 25%
1: 0.5:
0:

26. Public confidence in political parties.

1: High
0.5: Moderate
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence

1 if more than 40% 0.5 if 25-40%
0 if less than 25%

III Political participation

27. Voter participation/turnout for national elections.
(average turnout in parliamentary and/or presidential elections since 2000. Turnout as proportion of population of voting age).

1 if consistently above 70% 
0.5 if between 50% and 70% 
0 if below 50%

If voting is obligatory, score 0. Score 0 if scores for questions 1 or 2 is 0. 

28. Do ethnic, religious and other minorities have a reason- able degree of autonomy and voice in the political process?

1: Yes
0.5: Yes, but serious flaws exist 
0: No

29. Women in parliament.

% of members of parliament who are women

1 if more than 20% of seats
0.5 if 10-20%
0 if less than 10%

30. Extent of political participation. Membership of political parties and political non-governmental organisations.

1 if over 7% of population for either
0.5 if 4% to 7%
0 if under 4%.

If participation is forced, score 0. 

31. Citizens’ engagement with politics.

1: High
0.5: Moderate
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who are very or somewhat interested in politics 1 if over 60%

0.5 if 40% to 60% 
0 if less than 40%

32. The preparedness of population to take part in lawful demonstrations.

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who have taken part in or would consider attending lawful demonstrations

1 if over 40%
0.5 if 30% to 40% 
0 if less than 30%

33. Adult literacy. 

1 if over 90%
0.5 if 70% to 90% 
0 if less than 70%

34. Extent to which adult population shows an interest in and follows politics in the news.

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of population that follows politics in the news media (print, TV or radio) every day

1 if over 50%
0.5 if 30% to 50% 
0 if less than 30%

35. The authorities make a serious effort to promote political participation.
1: Yes
0.5: Some attempts 
0: No

Consider the role of the education system, and other promotional efforts. Consider measures to facilitate voting by members of the diaspora.

If participation is forced, score 0. 

IV Democratic political culture

36. Is there a sufficient degree of societal consensus and cohesion to underpin a stable, functioning democracy?

1: Yes
0.5: Yes, but some serious doubts and risks 
0: No

37. Perceptions of leadership; proportion of the population that desires a strong leader who bypasses parliament and elections.

1: Low
0.5: Moderate 
0: High

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who think it would be good or fairly good to have a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections

1 if less than 30% 
0.5 if 30% to 50% 
0 if more than 50%

38. Perceptions of military rule; proportion of the population that would prefer military.

1: Low
0.5: Moderate 
0: High

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who think it would be very or fairly good to have army rule

1 if less than 10% 
0.5 if 10% to 30% 
0 if more than 30%

39. Perceptions of rule by experts or technocratic government; proportion of the population that would prefer rule by experts or technocrats.

1: Low
0.5: Moderate 
0: High

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who think it would be very or fairly good to have experts, not government, make decisions for the country

1 if less than 50% 
0.5 if 50% to 70% 
0 if more than 70%

40. Perception of democracy and public order; proportion of the population that believes that democracies are not good at maintaining public order.

1: Low
0.5: Moderate 
0: High

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who disagree with the view that democracies are not good at maintaining order 1 if more than 70%

0.5 if 50% to 70% 
0 if less than 50%

41. Perception of democracy and the economic system; proportion of the population that believes that democracy benefits economic performance.

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who disagree with the view that the economic system runs badly in democracies 

1 if more than 80%
0.5 if 60% to 80% 
0 if less than 60%

42. Degree of popular support for democracy.

1: High
0.5: Moderate
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who agree or strongly agree that democracy is better than any other form of government

1 if more than 90% 
0.5 if 75% to 90% 
0 if less than 75%

43. There is a strong tradition of the separation of church and state.

1: Yes
0.5: Some residual influence of church on state
0: No

V Civil liberties

44. Is there a free electronic media?

1: Yes
0.5: Pluralistic, but state-controlled media are heavily favoured. One or two private owners dominate the media
0: No

45. Is there a free print media? 

1: Yes
0.5: Pluralistic, but state-controlled media are heavily favoured. There is high degree of concentration of private ownership of national newspapers
0: No

46. Is there freedom of expression and protest (bar only generally accepted restrictions such as banning advocacy of violence)? 

1: Yes
0.5: Minority viewpoints are subject to some official harassment. Libel laws restrict heavily scope for free expression
0: No

47. Is media coverage robust? Is there open and free discussion of public issues, with a reason- able diversity of opinions?

1: Yes
0.5: There is formal freedom, but high degree of conformity of opinion, including through self-censorship, or discouragement of minority or marginal views
0: No

48. Are there political restrictions on access to the internet? 

1: No
0.5: Some moderate restrictions 
0: Yes

49. Are citizens free to form professional organisations and trade unions?

1: Yes
0.5: Officially free,but subject to some restrictions
0: No

50. Do institutions provide citizens with the opportunity to successfully petition government to redress grievances?

1: Yes
0.5: Some opportunities 
0: No

51. The use of torture by the state

1: Torture is not used
0: Torture is used

52. The degree to which the judiciary is independent of government influence.

Consider the views of international legal and judicial watch- dogs. Have the courts ever issued an important judgment against the government, or a senior government official?

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

53. The degree of religious tolerance and freedom of religious expression.

Are all religions permitted to operate freely, or are some restricted? Is the right to worship permitted both publicly and privately? Do some religious groups feel intimidated by others, even if the law requires equality and protection?
1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

54. The degree to which citizens are treated equally under the law.

Consider whether favoured members of groups are spared prosecution under the law.
1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

55. Do citizens enjoy basic security? 

1: Yes
0.5: Crime is so pervasive as to endanger security for large segments 
0: No

56. Extent to which private property rights protected and private business is free from undue government influence.

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

57. Extent to which citizens enjoy personal freedoms. Consider gender equality, right to travel, choice of work and study.

1: High
0.5: Moderate
0: Low

58. Popular perceptions on human rights protection; pro- portion of the population that think that basic human rights are well-protected.

1: High
0.5: Moderate 
0: Low

If available, from World Values Survey
% of people who think that human rights are respected in their country

1 if more than 70% 
0.5 if 50% to 70% 
0 if less than 50%

59. There is no significant discrimination on the basis of people’s race, colour or creed.

1: Yes
0.5: Yes, but some significant exceptions
0: No

60. Extent to which the government invokes new risks and threats as an excuse for curbing civil liberties.
1: Low
0.5: Moderate 
0: High

References
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson, and Pierre Yared (2005), “Income and democracy”, NBER Working Paper No. 11205, March.
Coppedge, Michael (2005), “Defining and measuring democracy”, Working paper, International Political Science Association, April.
Dahl, Robert A(1970), “Polyarchy”, New Haven, Yale University Press.
Freedom House, various, www. freedomhouse.org.
Horowitz, Irving Louis (2006) “The struggle for democracy”, National Interest, spring.

Rigobon, Roberto and Dani Rodrik (2005), “Rule of law, democracy, openness, and income: estimating the interrelationships”, Economics of Transition, Volume 13 (3).