Armenia is the Most Democratic Country in the Region: Democracy Index 2021

The Economist media company's analytical center has published the Democracy Index 2021, categorizing countries around the world into four groups: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime, and authoritarian regime. As reported by Azatutyun, the report was created after experts considered five fundamental factors: electoral processes and pluralism, government effectiveness, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Based on their analysis, each country receives an overall rating that determines its position in the ranking. Armenia is classified as a hybrid regime country. The ratings are as follows: electoral processes and pluralism received a score of 5.5, government effectiveness scored 5.71, political participation was rated 6.11, political culture scored 3.13, and civil liberties received a score of 5. Thus, Armenia has been given an overall rating of 5.49, placing it 89th on the Democracy Index 2021.

It is important to note that Armenia holds the best position in the region. Renowned international human rights organizations publish various reports on democratic processes annually, and Georgia is often recognized as a leader in the region. However, in this report, Georgia has also been classified as hybrid and occupies the 91st position with an overall score of 5.12. Likewise, another neighboring country, Turkey, is rated hybrid as well, with a score of 4.35 and is in 103rd place.

Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, the remaining three countries in the region, are recognized as authoritarian. Russia ranks 124th with a score of 3.24, Azerbaijan is in an even worse situation with a score of 2.68, placing it 141st. Iran is at the bottom with a score of 1.95, positioned 154th.

Three countries have recorded progress and have moved from the hybrid group to the group of flawed democracies; all three are from Europe: Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The list of countries with full democracies remains virtually unchanged, featuring Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and others. Scandinavian countries consistently rank at the top in numerous reports for their protection of human rights, uncompromising fight against corruption, and high indicators of overall development and living standards.

Interestingly, according to the Economist's 2021 index, "flawed democracy" is also the classification given to France, Israel, the United States, the Czech Republic, Italy, and many other countries with strong democratic foundations. Among former Soviet countries, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are considered authoritarian. The bottom ranks of the list are held by North Korea, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.