Democracy in Russia, Burkina, and Haiti Decline to Independence in 2022

According to a study published Thursday by The Economist, a British group that compiles a democracy index of 167 countries, Russia will be the country with the most decline in democracy in 2022, ahead of Burkina Faso and Haiti.

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Following the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s democracy index saw its biggest drop in 2022, dropping 22 places in the world rankings of this study by the group’s research and analysis division. (EIU), which ranks Russia 146th.

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The study points out that the war in Ukraine has “exposed divisions between developed democracies that support Ukraine and many developing countries that have not chosen sides.”

Among “authoritarian regimes”, Haiti “seems to be in a state of internal dissolution” (135th, -16 places) and Burkina Faso (127th, -16 places), “Islamic insurgency has lost control. Part of the state in 2022” saw their index fall sharply.

In contrast, Thailand saw a strong index increase in 2022, moving up 17 places in the rankings to 55th place.

The lifting of restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic has boosted scores for several countries, including France (22nd, stable), Spain (22nd, +2 places) and Chile (19th +6 places). “Full Democracies”.

Regionally, Western Europe is the only region to improve its rating decisively in 2022.

“People from North America, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa have stagnated, and people from Latin America, the Middle East and ‘North Africa have experienced declines,'” the study added.

Globally, the 2022 Democracy Index dropped from 5.28 in 2021 to 5.29 in 2022. A stabilization after falling 0.09 points last year.

But as in 2021, less than half of the world’s population lived in a democracy in 2022 and only 8% lived in a “full democracy,” a ranking still led by Norway and closed by Afghanistan.

The study identifies five categories of criteria for establishing the ranking: electoral processes and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil rights.