DEMOCRACY REPORT 2024(PDF)
Below are the main points of Democracy Report 2024.
- democracy around the world continues to regress. The level of democracy enjoyed per capita has fallen to 1985 levels. Country averages have fallen back to 1998 levels.
- 71% of the world’s population, or 5.7 billion people, live in dictatorships, compared to 48% a decade ago.
- 60 countries are in the process of political regime change: 42 countries are undergoing dictatorships, affecting 2.8 billion people, or 35% of the world’s population. On the other hand, only 18 countries are in the process of democratization, with a population of 400 million (5% of the world’s population).
- 28 of the 42 countries were democracies at the start of the dictatorship, but only half (15) will remain democracies in 2023.
- the quality of elections has also declined due to dictatorships. Autonomy of electoral institutions has declined substantially in 22 of 42 countries.
- There are 25 candidate countries for “near miss” dictatorships, while 9 countries have the potential for democratization.
- 60 countries hold national elections in 2024. Of these, 31 countries are experiencing declining levels of democracy and only 3 are improving. Elections are an important turning point that can be a catalyst for democratization or a means of dictatorship.
Methodology – V-Dem The V-Dem Dataset – V-Dem
Below is a slight hint of halucination, which I’ll look into later.
The Global Democracy Index by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute uses a multidimensional approach to assess the various aspects of democracy. The index is determined through the following process
- DATA COLLECTION: The V-Dem Institute gathers information from approximately 3,500+ scholars, experts, and regional specialists from around the world. These experts will respond to an in-depth survey on the state of democracy in their respective countries.
- Variable Classification: The data collected is divided into hundreds of variables that reflect different aspects of democracy. These include electoral freedom, government transparency, judicial independence, citizens’ rights, and media freedom.
- Index Creation: V-Dem generates several indices based on these variables. Typical examples include the Liberal Democracy Index, the Electoral Democracy Index, the Participatory Democracy Index, the Tolerant Democracy Index, and the Feudal Democracy Index. Each of these indices specializes in measuring a different aspect of democracy.
- Transparency and access: V-Dem makes its data and methodology publicly available to researchers and the general public. This ensures the reliability of the data and the transparency of the analysis.
- Annual Update: The V-Dem index is updated annually to provide the most current information reflecting new data and changes.
Thus, V-Dem’s Democracy Index is based on the opinions of an extensive network of experts and detailed data analysis to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of democracy in countries around the world.
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